


After and Before Saving the World

by auwana



Category: Mighty Morphin Power Rangers, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: F/F, I do those, I do what I want, NUFF SAID, The Power Ranger characters are minor, Zordon Rangers only, but Natasha has emotions, but no really Natasha Romanov, canon typical violence btw, ignore me if you don't like 'em, it's not safe, self insertion because you know what, she just takes a while to act on them, yea yea yea it's another oc fic
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-11-10
Updated: 2017-01-08
Packaged: 2018-02-24 19:21:47
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 16
Words: 40,019
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2593358
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/auwana/pseuds/auwana
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A former Power Ranger finds herself in working for a secret government agency because fighting is all she really knows how to do. A former KGB assassin sees an chance to change her fate at the same agency. Years and missions build a bond they weren't expecting.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. After the World is Saved the First Time

**Author's Note:**

> So this is so very slow build relationship stuff and it mostly focuses on the OFC at first but then everyone is slowly introduced as it gets closer to the movies. FYI this fic is titled 60000 words of hope on my computer because I started writing it when I needed to feel loved.

When Ariel was a freshman in high school, she was chosen by an eons old alien to be a Power Ranger. She accepted the responsibility with more recklessness of a teenager than any kind of duty. Being a superhero was better than anything she could think of at the time. 

Then the reality of her decision hit. 

Ariel spent the next four years on a constant state of alert. She suffered injuries both mental and physical, and the nightmares took their toll. Yet she fought on. Her friends took opportunities to move on, and she didn't blame them. But Ariel? The fight became more about payback than defense of Earth. Zordon saw this happening, and helped as much as he could.

It took Maligore and a crippling burn to wake her up. Thanks to Lerigot and Yara, all that would remain was a 'x' shape mark on her back. Of course, it was an unexplainable scar, so she would always have to hide it from sight. She grew to understand she wasn't just protecting herself from questions and a revealed identity. She was making sure people never realized just how dangerous it was being a Power Ranger.

See, the people of Angel Grove didn't know how lucky they were. There was a well of Gaxiona, the energy the Power Rangers and their enemies used, under the city. It protected the city and its inhabitants, strengthening structures and giving people a better chance at escaping the site of a fight. 

Most people called Angel Grove residents fools for staying in the city. Others saw bravery in standing their ground.

Then the Power Chamber was destroyed, along with the Turbo Powers. 

While T.J. took Ashley, Carlos, and Cassie to search for Zordon in a small ship hidden away from the Ranger base, Ariel stayed behind to scavenge what she could to defend Earth. Divatox had left, thinking she won. That didn't mean she, or anyone else, wouldn't come back to finish the job of enslaving Earth.

Six billion potential slaves meant Earth wasn't going to be destroyed.

Jason, Kim, and Zack came back to investigate what had happened when the Turbo Mega Zord was destroyed on national television and the monster attacks stopped. They found Ariel commandeering Billy's garage; Mr. Cranston wasn't an idiot when it came to his son, but he didn't interfere. They did the best they could, but no attack came.

When T.J. brought his team by, it was with a new leader. Andros of Kerova found the quartet fighting Astronema without powers. The new Astro Rangers wouldn't just be protecting Earth, but the planets in the same area of space. The quartet of original Rangers didn't stand down, but they now prepared for a bigger strike. Astronema was one of Dark Specter's best lieutenants. This was going to get worse before it got better.

The invasion of Angel Grove made their preparations worth it.

Kim started evacuating people on one side of the city, furthest from downtown. Zack got those edging the mountains out of their homes. Jason focused on the emergency services that had been penned in or secured in their buildings by troops of Quantrons. He led other vigilantes into guerrilla attacks. Ariel went to the heart of it all, causing trouble for those right beneath the Dark Fortress.

When Astronema threatened to start killing people, the Astro Rangers appeared. Ariel got the civilians out of the area when the fighting started. 

Andros killed Zordon. The monsters and minions turned to ash. Those under spells were released. The Power Rangers were spirited away to hidden corners of the city before their powers faded away. Their identities would always be secret.

Ariel tightened her grip on a Quantron blaster and started handing out orders. The groups of people in her vicinity had injured, and it would be best to wait for help to come to them now that the threat was gone. People fell in line, willing to listen to someone who sounded confident and looked sure.

It didn't take long for the National Guard to show up. Ariel meant to slip into the confusion like Kim and Zack had managed. Except everyone was quick to praise her and Jason for their help; Angel Grove was quick to identify the heroes they could, since the Power Rangers were still a secret. A week of meetings and endless questions started, and for a while, both former Rangers were afraid they'd be found out. But their secrets weren't revealed; the duo managed to sell their willingness to fight for their hometown to all who asked.

Every branch of the armed forces courted them. Both were seen as leaders with unique experiences. Jason eventually chose the Marines. Ariel planned to dance around making a decision until they left her alone. She could fight on a superhero team, but she knew she didn't have the mental discipline for the military. Even after five years of Tommy and Jason teaching her martial arts, she was still more brawler than anything else.

Then two very mismatched people knocked on her door.  
'  
The only reason Maria Hill read the dossier on Ariel Malaya was because Coulson had done so on the flight over. Maria wasn't too sure how likely they were to recruit a nineteen year old who wouldn't even commit to following her childhood friend. At the very least, however, Maria could work on her profiling skills.

The only reason she and Coulson were here was due to their injuries. They weren't cleared for field duty, and Fury was probably punishing them for risking their lives a hint recklessly. 

The front door swung open to reveal a relatively put together teenager. Almost everything about her spoke of being relaxed, if not for the sharpness of her eyes. This was someone used to living in a city constantly attacked by monsters. And sometimes the monsters weren't so obvious.

Coulson led by introducing themselves as just agents, no agency, and asked for a few minutes of her time. Malaya thought about it for a moment before nodding and invited them in. 

Her parents weren't home, which was exactly how they wanted it. Coulson explained in vague detail who they were and gave a hint as to what they did. SHIELD couldn't afford to just spell out everything, after all. Strange thing was, they seemed to have her attention.

Malaya was either very good at looking interested, or genuinely liked what she was being told. Maria added a few things to Coulson's spiel here and there.

At the end, Coulson gave her his card, which was just a phone number, and they were seen out.

"I think she'll actually call," Maria said once they were back in the car.

"I know she will."

She looked over at him. "Why?"

His smile was small. "SHIELD is just enough of a mystery to satisfy the withdrawal."

Maria considered that for a moment. "She knows what to expect from the armed forces or the other alphabet agencies. She'll want to see what we're all about."

"Exactly."

~

A week later, Ariel entered SHIELD's Operations academy without a backward glance.

~

Ariel didn't have any powers or any kind of connection to the Morphin' Grid. She was a normal human being as far as powers were concerned. All that lingered from her time fighting alien monsters was the sixth sense for trouble. She knew if someone meant to hurt her, or if someone was going to be an immediate threat. The other former Power Rangers seemed to have the same sense for danger.

The Academy wasn't easy. She had to work hard for everything. It felt amazing. Being a Power Ranger was no cake walk. Here? All she had was herself. There was no last minute invention, no weak point to save the day. Sure, she made friends. She worked well with people on team assignments. But there wasn't the desperate reliance of a Power Ranger team. Everyone else was going through the same thing, instead of just her best friends.

Ariel loved struggling when the world wasn't in the balance. She was learning everything she could, and more than once looked up more information on her own. She started paying attention to international news with her classmates. 

There were a few drawbacks to being one of the youngest people around. She was just known for being an Angel Grove vigilante. A few people regarded her as an idiot for fighting space monsters. Others thought her brave. No one would ever figure out she was a Power Ranger. Most of those she spent a lot of time with called her the kid of the group. It took a bit longer than others to loose the new kid status. 

One of the upsides was being underestimated. She was in the beginning hand to hand combat classes, because what did she know? She knew how to brawl, she knew how to fight against aliens that didn't use any kind of recognizable fighting style. She usually only caught someone off guard once, but that was enough. It was also easier for her to ask questions; of course she wouldn't know details or intricacies to one thing or another, she was fresh out of high school. 

Sometimes she was babied, but it was usually in jest. Someone would lightly cover her ears and scold the offender. Alcohol snuck into the academy was held out of her reach for a few minutes. Very rarely were they serious, but their hearts were in the right place. They didn't know she understood, most of the time.

Every once in a great while, she shocked her professors with her ruthlessness. They attributed her ideas of take-no-prisoners and total annihilation to her experiences with monsters that needed such destruction. Sometimes she was in the right, and other times she had to come up with a plan that allowed for more survivors.

Ariel's all time favorite lessons involved laser tag and paintball. Laser tag was used for more covert training, allowing for distance or assassination. Paintball meant raids and larger groups, or just for the chaos of navigating hotspots while trying to get to an extraction point or completing an objective. Either way, it was the most physical she could get without the risks that came with sparring. Sometimes hand to hand was involved, and Ariel did her best to excel there, too.

Ariel was also good at planning and improvising, especially when it came to supplies. Spending five years working with only what was available in the Command Center made a girl prioritize and ration like a pro. When asked about the skill, however, she attributed it growing up poor. She'd been working class, her family had been well enough off to not worry about things. There was just no extra to their lives.

Her twentieth birthday passed with very little to note it; she was on a wilderness survival trip at the time. Her twenty first birthday, however, was cause for celebration. Most of the alcohol was in the food, and the jell-o shots were going to end her. But it was worth it; these people needed to have as many simple pleasures as she did. Life wasn't going to get any easier for them.

Not everyone could handle the three years of training. Some washed out, others had more important reasons to leave, and a few discovered other callings. Ariel wasn't at the top of her class, but she was impressive enough. At her age, with her lack of experience, not a lot of people expected her to make it. Oh, they hoped for the best, but expected the worst. After all, she was just a kid.

Then she was a shiny, level one SHIELD agent. 

Let it begin again.


	2. Beware the Cacti

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which there is a meeting between Ranger and assassin.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yes, I stole names from Stargate, and the type of gun they use. I figure if exploration teams with a habit of getting into tight situations used it, SHIELD could to.

For two years, Ariel learned the ropes with the Strike Teams. It usually involved planned attacks, with fast and effective strikes. Shoot outs weren't encouraged, through they did happen. Every once in a while, they were dropped in to an active area to get an agent out. 

Ariel learned a bit more about how the actually organization worked, as opposed to how their professors said it should work. Homework had nothing on after action reports, but the hazing didn't last nearly as long as it had in the academy, nor was it more severe. 

Her leadership skills started to show, and she started to gain a reputation for a level head and gallows humor. All were leftover from Angel Grove. Panicking when a face eating monster had half your team did nothing helpful. And it always disturbed the enemy when she had a dead pan attitude about an injury.

Ariel knew very well she was mortal. There was nothing she could do about that, even with powers. Death would swoop in, as it always did. Ariel didn't know how to be afraid of the end.

Zordon had known no fear.

At the start of her third year, she was made second in command of a small team within a larger unit of Strike. The units were larger parts of a whole, containing separate teams. It was here Ariel was faced with true disgust.

Everyone had been with the team longer, and Carolyn Wick thought she should've gotten the second in command position when John and Terrance were promoted. John had been second and was now their fearless leader. Carolyn was shocked and disgruntle about being passed up for the youngest and newest member of the ten person team. Ariel didn't acknowledge the vague insults and obvious behind the back talk, knowing the attention would only encourage the older woman.

Until, that was, Ariel had the opportune moment.

They were on their way back from an op that could've gone better, but everyone was going to live, albeit a few with new scars. Mission accomplished, relief was in the air. Except for Carolyn.

"Fuck! This is your fault, Kovalic."

The man in question raised an unimpressed eyebrow as the team medic, a.k.a. the one with the most medical training, dealt with the bullet hole in Wick's leg. "How so?"

"If you actually did you job and provided cover fire-"

"Perhaps if you decided to warn us before you decide to run across open ground-"

"I told you to cover me!"

"I was busy making sure we didn't get an RPG up our asses! You ran before I was done killing that fucker!"

The back and forth went on for a few more seconds before John whistled harshly. Silence fell over the transport. When they got to the airfield, the injured were loaded up first, before the more able boarded. As Ariel stepped past Carolyn, the woman made a sly attempt to trip her.

A smooth avoidance later, and Ariel turned to face the petulant woman with a blank look, letting others pass her. "This is why you were passed up for second."

"Enlighten me, bitch."

"That, for one. Second, your temper tantrum on the way here. If that's how you treat your equals, I don't want to see you with minions. Last, your general childish behavior."

"Fuck off, Malaya."

"Why? You've been trying to get a rise outta me for the last four months. You have my attention. Now give me a valid argument as to why you'd be the better leader."

"Besides the fact I'm an actual trained soldier as opposed to a trailer trash high school drop out?"

"Insulting lies aren't valid arguments. And experience means nothing if you don't know how to use it."

Wick snarled. "Says the bitch without any."

"Vulgarity makes you look tough, not smart. Give me one example of how you'd be a better leader." Ariel knew they had an audience, and it was very obvious. She cared, but only because she was proving a point. Yes, her friends on the team still called her the kid, but they also called her ma'am when it mattered.

And maybe she was getting a nice thrill at being the better person. Nothing like one-uping the bully to make a person smug.

Wick remained silent. Ariel walked away.  
'  
Hostilities didn't cease, but they didn't happen so often after that. Ariel went back to ignoring the bitter woman's attitude until Wick was transferred to another unit. Ariel knew a promotion didn't come with the transfer, but she heard that Wick's new team would stomp on her shit before she could get started.

It was around this time that Ariel heard about one agent bringing in a world renown assassin. Apparently he was supposed to kill her, but decided she'd be better off working for them. They were both in the brig now, awaiting a decision from Fury. Ariel was silently rooting for them. After Tommy, Kat and Astronema, she knew what it was to give someone a second chance. 

It wouldn't be until Ariel's fourth year at SHIELD that she would meet the infamous Natasha Romanoff.  
~~  
The retrieval mission was going smoothly. What little resistance they met was easily subdued, and they had both Hawkeye and Coulson. They just needed to get Black Widow out. Ariel was leading the four person group to the small out building Coulson knew as her last location.

The amount of gunfire and radio chatter erupted when they were two feet in the door. Calvary had arrived, and SHIELD hadn't ordered it.

"Jones, Banister, keep this door clear," she ordered, knowing it'd be their only way out.

She led Santos through the shelving to the lit up back end. Black Widow was there, knocked out and with an I.V. of something being pumped into her. After careful removal of the I.V., Santos packed the bag of liquid away, knowing medical may need it to identify what was in Romanoff's system. 

Jones and Banister started shooting at people outside. Ariel cursed and told Santos to check out the windows for anything useful.

"I've got a creeper van," she reported.

"It'll do." She tapped her comm. "Jones, Banister, get ready to haul ass towards us."

"But, ma'am, I'm shooting things!" Jones half whined.

"Then that can be your role in the getaway van."

"Shotgun!" both doormen shouted at the same time.

Santos rolled her eyes and grabbed Romanoff under the arms. Ariel kicked out the singly ply wood for a big enough hole. She hefted the spies' ankles under one arm, grabbed a hammer and flathead screwdriver off a shelf with the other hand, and led the way to the van. Thankfully, this was the far end of the compound and no one had thought to make a door like she had.

The sliding door was unlocked, but there were no keys. After settling Romanoff in the back, Ariel jammed the screwdriver into the ignition and gave it a good pound. She tapped her comm. "Last one in closes the door."

She used the first grenade blast to hide the start of the van. Jones leapt into the passenger seat and Banister slammed the sliding door shut after throwing another grenade into the building. Ariel tore off towards the copters.

"Retrieval three has Romanoff," Santos reported through her comm. "Utility van in bound."

Jones shot a path in front of them and Banister put out a back window to take care of tails. "RPG!"

Ariel swerved out of the way and then ducked as bullets riddled the windshield. The RPG rocked the van and she went with it, plowing through a few insurgents. "Jones, don't bleed on the leather."

"Whoops."

Santos hauled him into the back and looked at the wound. "Graze, but a deep one."

"That makes, what, eight?" Banister asked.

"Get ready to run," Ariel ordered.

Santos quickly tied her bandana around the bleeding wound. Jones threw the sliding door open as the van halted. Ariel joined them in the back and ordered Jones to grab Romanoff's legs with his good arm. There was one copter waiting for them, the others already lifting off.

Before they could get out of the van, an RPG launched towards the copter. The pilot was some kind of ace, because it leaned out of the way. 

Ariel waved it off even as she yelled into her comm. "Go! We'll extract at site B."

"You have six hours to get there," John replied. "Good luck."

She jumped back into the driver's seat. The door slammed shut even as she barreled down the dirt road.

~

Natasha woke all at once without giving herself away. She felt the cool metal of a standard SHIELD sidearm beneath her right hand, but no arrowhead in her pocket. She wasn't with Barton.

Cursing came from nearby. "It's called bedside manner, Sarah." The American midwest accent was authentic, she could tell that much.

"You're not in a bed, are ya?" asked a New York Queens accent. "Charlie, hold him still."

Charlie settled on some creaky crates. "Hey, handsome." He was from a part of Australia she'd never been to, that much was obvious.

There was a fourth person, Natasha knew that because she could feel the body heat next to her. Whoever it was felt no need to speak, though there was a quiet chuckle at the banter. Natasha guessed female, by the pitch.

Chances were, these people were SHIELD. But she wanted to make sure, and since this no longer smelled like a garden shed, she supposed she'd been moved. Now, to figure out how and why.

"Hey, Ariel, where'd you learn that trick with the screwdriver and hammer?" asked whoever was being patched up.

"Misspent childhood," drawled a Southern California female.

"I've seen your rap sheet," Santos shot back. "You don't have one."

"I was never caught?" Now, she sounded unsure and much younger than the rest of the room.

"God, I hope you're never interrogated," Charlie said. "You couldn't have caved faster."

"With you three stooges at my six, I'm not worried about getting caught. Most of the vehicles I got to drive functioned that way because the alchies that owned 'em lost the keys at some point."

"That went from bad ass to pathetic," the injured man said. "Better to keep pops drowned in beer than have him move?"

"Not for me, but for a few of the younger neighbors."

"Ha!" That was Santos. "There's the goody-two-shoes we know and love."

"Up yours, Santos."

"Only after dinner, Malaya."

"Lobster or steak?"

"Both. And I keep forgetting you'd actually do that."

There was movement by Natasha's knee. "Why choose a team when I can have it all?"

"Greedy bitch," Charlie grumbled, clearly joking. "You done, Sarah?"

"Just about. Fuck, Kyle, you bleed like a stuck pig."

"No one says that anymore," Malaya pointed out. 

"I'm bringing it back. Romanoff change any?"

Two fingers were pressed to Natasha's free hand for a long moment. "Pulse hasn't changed, but she's team bad ass, so that probably means squat."

"You could find out if she's ticklish," Charlie offered.

Malaya snorted. "Yeah, if I didn't like my limbs in their current configuration." There was another movement. "Drink, Jones."

"Ma'am, yes, ma'am." The sounds of a water bottle being emptied filled the silence. "You keep trying to drown me, and I'm gonna have to piss before we leave."

"We hot wiring the next car or going by the Malaya School of GTA?" Charlie asked.

"How d'ya think people who can't hot wire steal cars?" Malaya asked, a little defensive.

"Hostages?" 

"We need to get near vehicles first," Santos pointed out. "And we shouldn't split up to find one and bring it back here. Which means carrying a supposed unconscious body." Her voice was moving closer.

A warm drop of liquid hit Natasha right between the eyes. The sudden drip of blood made her eyes twitch.

"Unconscious bodies don't react to that," Malaya drawled. "And it was warm water, not blood. Up, please, and take a hostage if you don't believe we're SHIELD."

Natasha moved without hesitance. The gun was in her hand and pressed to Mayala's temple in the same movement that braced Natasha behind the young woman. No one moved to retaliate, though there were slight looks of surprise at Natasha's speed.

"We have three hours to get to the secondary extraction point," Malaya said, calm and almost casual. "It's a two hour drive at sixty miles an hour, and we have to find transport as well as avoid the militia swarming the city."

"How did we get here?" Natasha demanded.

Charlie, who didn't have the stitches in his arm, tossed his thumb over his shoulder. There was a utility van sitting there, cans of gasoline lined in front of it. "They know to look for it, and we need to destroy any trace of us."

That made sense to Natasha. They wore standard Strike Team uniforms, and they seemed familiar enough with her. But she couldn't risk trusting them if the gear was stolen from dead agents. However, if these were actual SHIELD agents, she really shouldn't leave bullet holes in their bodies. "Let's find a vehicle, then."

Natasha kept Malaya to her side as they headed away from the slowly smoking building. By the time anyone noticed the abandoned warehouse was burning, any traces of them would be gone. Santos took point, and they managed to find a group of drug dealers before they hit the edge of the derelict buildings. Santos and Charlie incapacitated the group of a half dozen before rifling through pockets for keys. 

Natasha sat in the back of the SUV, behind the driver, with Malaya in the seat next to her. Jones sat on the other end, while Santos drove and Charlie rode shotgun. Getting out of the city wasn't easy, but they weren't actively pursued. Once they hit the mountain roads, they picked up speed. Not once did anyone make any kind of move to disarm Natasha either physically or mentally. Malaya remained calm at her side. 

Then they hit a road block.

Or, the road block hit them. With bullets. 

"Keep shooting!" Santos yelled as she gunned the engine.

Jones and Charlie pointed their semi-automatics out the windows at the group of mercenaries. Natasha did the same, but her gun didn't fire.

"что ебать?!"

Malaya handed over her P-90 to Natasha before taking Jones' sidearm and aiming straight ahead. The windshield wasn't meant to take such a beating. 

They broke through the wooden horses blocking the road, and grenades were dropped out of the SUV as they flew past. Explosions echoed in the mountain as they headed away.

"Report!" Malaya demanded as she whirled around to keep an eye out for tails.

"Just a little glass," Santos said first.

Charlie nodded. "Ditto."

"No new holes ripped into me," Jones replied with false cheer.

"I've got some glass," Malaya said. "Romanoff?"

"Fine. You gave me a defective weapon."

Charlie snorted. "Says the hostage taker."

"Don't antagonize the assassin," Malaya ordered. "We know you don't need a gun to be dangerous. As much as we wanted you to feel secure enough to cooperate with us, we weren't going to completely risk our own safety."

Natasha glared, even if she saw the logic. She didn't return the P-90 and no one said a word about it. 

"We have forty three minutes to get to exfil," Charlie said. 

Santos sped up.  
'  
In a clearing on the other side of the mountains, Clint Barton sat in a helicopter, his legs handing out the side. His arm was in a sling, there were bandages around his arm, and he had a bag of IV fluid resting on his shoulder. Around him, Strike agents were spread out, ready for a fight. 

Twenty minutes until they left four of their own and Natasha behind.

He wanted to get up and pace, he needed to walk off the tension. But he knew the one condition of him being here was his lack of physical activity. So he didn't move anything but his eyes. 

Five minutes to lift off, the radios crackled to life.

"This is Malaya, so don't fucking shoot the black SUV without the windshield."

John Shepard clicked his radio and drawled, "That's a precise description."

"Feel free to wipe our tails out," Malaya replied with false cheer. "Unless Romanoff gets the rocket launcher working beforehand."

"Rocket launcher?" 

"We stole a drug dealers car?"

There was an explosion in the distance. Shepard motioned for the pilot to start up the chopper. He handed Clint a sidearm and leaned in to be heard over the whine of the machine. "Don't get my ass in a sling."

Clint smirked and nodded. If Coulson found out Clint had a weapon, it was Shepard's hide as much as Clint's own. The Strike agents fell back closer to the chopper.

Another explosion sounded closer, this time sending birds up into the air. They were half a mile out. 

It didn't take long at all for the SUV to burst from the trees. There were no immediate tails. The SUV skidded to a stop near the chopper. Clint caught a flash of red hair before Natasha was exiting the back with a rocket launcher in hand. 

Relief flooded through his system, easing muscles he didn't know he'd tensed.

One of them was injured, Natasha was limping, and the other three were sliced up by glass. They got in and lifted off just as two jeeps raced out of the trees. Natasha stood and aimed the rocket launcher.

There were no more tails after that.


	3. Chapter 3

It was another four months before Ariel found herself working with Strike Team Delta again. This time, her unit was backing up the duo of disaster instead of retrieval.

"Malaya, take your team to coordinate with Romanoff."

Even as she picked up her gear, she asked, "By plan or by order?"

Shepard gave her a knowing grin. "According to plan, don't worry about losing your bowels."

Ariel heaved a sigh of relief. "Awesome." She led the way over to staging area for Delta and waited just out of polite earshot. "Level of FUBAR bets?"

"Five," Santos said. "Ten bucks."

Banister snorted. "These three? Eight."

"Six," Jones offered. "You?"

Ariel shrugged. "Four."

"You're shitting me," Charlie said.

"We have plans, and there's little chance we're expected."

"I don't know," Santos said. "Plans never survive contact with the enemy."

Coulson and Barton walked off and Ariel headed for Romanoff. "Shepard sent us to coordinate."

The assassin nodded once. "We have blue prints over here." She led the way to a small table and they started to go over the plan of attack.

Half an hour later, they were pinned down in the server room that was Romanoff's objective. The remote severs weren't hooked up to any external systems, which meant direct download of data. SHIELD hadn't been able to get someone planted inside in the past six months, so it was decided to go with the direct approach.

"Count off!" Malaya ordered.

She was given a list of ammunition from her teammates before adding her own. They weren't going to get out without stealing guns and ammo. She motioned for Jones to take her position before running over to Romanoff. "Can you get into the sprinkler system from here?"

The redhead didn't look up from her rapid typing. "Yes."

"Great. Let me know when you've got it."

"What's the plan?"

"Thirty second drenches at crossroads, about a minute apart, following our route out."

"Water log them and their firearms, giving us time to strike and move." She nodded, mouth twisting up a hint. "Not bad."

Ariel returned to her team and told them the plan. It was another ninety six seconds before Romanoff signaled that she was ready, as were the sprinklers. When the first drench happened, the shock and surprise allowed the group to bowl over those pinning them down.

It took seven long minutes to get near the exit. Half the force guarding the doors were outside, holding off SHIELD from behind barricades. The sprinkler system only allowed the quintet to get a fourth of the guards. Santos pitched the last of their grenades into the pit of gunmen, getting a handful killed and a few more injured. 

Ariel looked around for another way to getting out of this. There was no backdoor, and it was only a matter of time before reinforcements came in behind them. Then she caught sight of the ceiling. She pat Jones twice to inform him she was moving away from him and motioned Romanoff to follow her out of sight of their enemies.

"What's the plan?" the spy asked.

Ariel pointed up. "Drop ceiling. Up, over, and bullets into the top of a few hard heads."

She nodded and accepted the foot up into the ceiling. She braced herself and held her arms down. Ariel ran at the wall, pushed off the middle, grabbed the offered hands with one of her own, and used the other to grabbed the edge of the ceiling. They carefully navigated over to the entrance, which was a bit damaged from grenades. 

"After we kill them," Romanoff said, "I'll drop and get those guarding the outside."

"Don't get shot again," Ariel said as they positioned themselves.

They used the small holes in the cardboard tiles to find their first marks. Once all eight remaining guards were dropped, Natasha kicked out what remained of a tile and hung from her knees to kill most of those outside behind barricades. She tossed Widow Stings out of the door before dropping down to kill the last two holdouts. Ariel dropped after her and waved her teammates over.

"That was fun," Jones said as they jogged for the rest of SHIELD.

"Why? Because you didn't get shot?" Banister asked.

"Exactly."

~

Natasha checked the small computer attached to the sparring dummies. They were a circle of leather padded wooden mannequins with sensors and lights. The point of them was to hit and block in time to the lights. Most agents didn't use them because they couldn't react to the lights fast enough.

Except...Someone was closing in on her reaction times. Natasha was still far better than any of the other few dozen agents using the dummies, but there was one user I.D. in the center of dead man's land. Faster than the others, but only half way to her. Interesting. There was no names attached to the I.D. numbers, but the time stamps were clustered around midnight. Well, Natasha knew what she was doing tonight.

After her own workout with the dummies, Natasha didn't waste time wondering who the outlier might be. There were many different kinds of people employed by SHIELD. She and Clint were certainly unique, but there were others with specific skill sets. Strike Team Delta weren't the only assassins in the organization, just the one with the biggest reputation.

"Doing anything tonight?" Clint asked as they took dinner in the mess. 

"Spying on someone using the timed dummies."

"Why?" His tone wasn't suspicious or incredulous, just curious.

"Whoever it is, they're faster than any other agent."

He wagged his eyebrows at her. "Is your title on the line?"

She scoffed lightly. "Not even close. But I could use a different sparring partner."

He glared. "Tired of beating me up already?" Then he grinned. "Or are you finally frustrated with Coulson?"

Natasha stole a fry from his tray. She and Coulson seem to come to a draw more often than not. It used to baffle her. He was no better than her, and she could drop him. But every once in a while, he got lucky. Clint used his strength and ability to switch between hard strikes to acrobatic flowing to give her a good fight. Coulson was either there or he wasn't. "Knowing how others fight isn't a bad thing."

Clint gave her that much. As much as power was power, knowledge was another path to that power. 

Natasha cat napped after some reading before hitting a treadmill. She hoped her target would show up if there were others in the gym. Especially if the other was one who held the record on the sparring apparatus. Natasha wasn't too sure how long she would, or had to wait, so she settled into a light jog.

Ten after twelve, someone entered the near empty gym. Natasha didn't watch outright as she tracked the hooded female as she approached the computer in the wall. When the blue hood was pushed down, Natasha was surprised to see Malaya. The younger woman didn't strike the assassin as someone that extraordinary. A good leader and decent at planning under pressure, but not someone who was an exceptional martial artist.

Malaya's thick brown hair was pulled high on her head and braided tightly. She didn't shed her sweats or tape her knuckles. When she ducked into the ring of posed mannequins, it was with a grace not displayed before. She tapped the lit face to signal the computer, and then it began.

Natasha had to admit to being a hint impressed. Not a lot, just enough to be of note. Malaya knew what she was doing. After registering a light was lit, her body was moving to strike or block while her eyes went scanning for the next light. She trusted her body to do as it was told, and didn't need to watch to confirm a hit. That was where most people got caught up; they were waiting for the light to go out before looking for the next one. 

Malaya was a fluid fighter, and Natasha wondered how much training she had. This was someone who used their training often, not just on the mats. Intrigued, Natasha slowed down her run to cool off. She stretched just a little bit before going to stand next to the wall-embedded computer. If Malaya knew she was there, there was no acknowledgment. The program would run until time was up, after a certain amount of lights were missed, or after too many consecutive misses. It was a timed run, because everything stopped after ten minutes. Malaya shook her limbs out and stretched before leaving the ring of dummies.

"Romanoff."

Natasha nodded. "Malaya. I was hoping for a sparing partner out of whoever was catching up to me."

Malaya actually looked a little eager. "I'll let you beat me up if you tell how you did it after."

Natasha raised an eyebrow.

She shrugged. "How else am I supposed to learn, if I don't do it from better people?"

"I'm not telling you everything," Natasha said as she headed for the mats.

"Well, duh. Just, you know, the general stuff." She stretched at the edge of the mats. "Or not. I can figure things out on my own."

They worked out a handful of rules before Malaya launched herself at Natasha. The Russian was pleased at the lack of fear; most agents let their impending doom rule their actions. It made them timid sparring partners. Those who started out strong lost their confidence too quickly under Natasha's skill. She saw no reason to go easy on them; they wouldn't improve without a reason.

Malaya wouldn't beat her anytime soon. Natasha would have to be having her worst day and Malaya her best before that happened. But Malaya didn't go down without a fight, and easily popped back up for more. Being knocked down over and over again didn't seem to deter the Asian woman. It was refreshing.

Their sparring didn't last too long. Malaya had yet to sleep for the day and was battered from fighting wooden dummies. When Malaya didn't get up after one throw, Natasha dropped Ariel's towel and water bottle next to her. 

"We're doing this again."

Malaya gave her a thumbs up, mouth sucking down water. Natasha smiled just a little before leaving. Tomorrow she'd asked Coulson about the ninja among them in the morning.  
'  
Phil looked up as someone entered his office. He gave Romanoff a small smile in greeting that was returned. "You look determined."

She didn't comment on his ability to read her mood, though he knew it confounded her in the beginning. "Ariel Malaya, Strike. What's her deal?"

Phil didn't ask why she wanted to know. "She's from Angel Grove, California. Fourteen when the attacks started, and a rebellion leader when during the three day take over."

Natasha frowned. "Why did anyone stay there in the first place?"

"Those that could afford it did leave, and the risk made it cheaper to live there. There were never any deaths as a result of attacks, and property damage was amazingly minimal. Why the interest in Malaya?"

"She improvised well in the Hydra base. And she's better than anyone else on the light dummies."

"Besides you."

That was a given.

Phil looked up Ariel's profile. "She has had run ins with monsters and various minions, but that was common enough in the schools and parks. I can only assume any extraordinary displays are due to past experience."

Natasha nodded. "She didn't protest when I tested her on the mats last night."

"Her training agents could've told you that, according to her file. She eventually learned how a few of them liked to fight and countered they're styles without input from them."

"I'll keep that in mind." 

Phil was pretty sure it wouldn't be a worry for Natasha. The assassin used too many styles and techniques to be predicted properly. "Anything else?"

Natasha shook her head. "No. Thanks."

~

For the next two months, Ariel and Natasha managed to spar twice a week, missions allowing. Ariel's ability to pop up and look completely unbothered by her ass being handed to her gained a hint of a reputation among those that are around to see the spectacle. That Natasha found someone who liked the abuse was just as surprising.

Ariel never would catch up to Natasha on the light dummies, but she didn't fall back to the normal ratings, either. She still practiced around midnight, but that was due to her own reasons. Sometimes nightmares didn't allow for sleep.

The next time they were on a mission together, it wasn't on purpose.

~

"Go to Italy, they said. It'll be warm, they said." Ariel dumped a bunch of dead wood inside the cave. "They didn't say it'd be fucking monsoon season."

"They're not called monsoons here," Hill said, picking through for the driest pieces of wood. "Or in California, for that matter."

Ariel plopped down in the open spot in front of the fire. "Didn't ask you, ma'am."

Clint handed over a warmed thermos cup of water. "Any signs out there?"

"Nada." She pulled the sticks and leaves she had tied to her shoes to hide her tracks. 

"On the one hand, no one's chasing us," Natasha commented. "On the other, no one's coming for us, either."

Maria looked at her mangled leg. "Which won't be a good thing in a few hours."

Ariel waved her off. "We'll amputate at the knee, you'll be fine."

The three older agents looked at the Strike trooper. She blinked. "Wut?"

Maria leaned back against the stone wall. "Suddenly I'm reminded we recruited you out of a monster war zone."

Ariel chuckled low and gulped down the water. After the mission had gone to shit, the four of them had crashed their stolen news copter after being shot out of the sky. They found the cave they were currently hiding in after hauling Maria's broken leg two miles up the coastal woods. Coulson was back in the city, along with the rest of Ariel's team. They couldn't risk their emergency beacons until they were sure their pursuers wouldn't find them first.

"Anyone know anything about berries?" she asked a she dug a bunch of nuts out of her cargo pockets. "I didn't pick any, but I know where they are."

Natasha cracked the walnuts between her palms. Clint flinched away, crossing his legs. 

"I do," Maria said with a small sigh. "And if Barton can shoot us a few birds, I can talk you three through preparing them."

Ariel pulled up her sleeve and showed Maria the drawings of leaves and berries she made with her pen. Maria marked the edible ones with names and crossed out two, naming them and their poisonous results. 

Clint shed most of his gear, keeping his quiver, bow, side arm, and a grenade. Ariel braced herself for returning to the rain. It wasn't cold, but wet clothing chaffed. 

"If we're not back in half an hour, move," Clint told Natasha.

"Could've sworn I'm the senior agent here," Maria murmured from her position against the wall.

"You can boss us around when we're screwing up," Clint offered.

Hunter and gatherer went in different directions. Ariel was hoping to scare prey towards Clint, and he could move quietly enough to sneak up on things. Ariel reversed her loop, keeping an eye out for trouble. She was sure they covered their tracks well enough, but that wouldn't hinder dogs any. She filled her pockets and pouches with berries. She ate a couple, making a few faces as the pure taste of fruit she never had before.

When Ariel got back, Natasha was boiling rain water in Ariel's tac helmet. Clint came back with a hare and two birds. Maria ran them through the prep, and the smell of cooking meat reminded them all how long it'd been since their last meal.

As they ate, it was decided Natasha and Ariel would find a vantage point to trigger the distress beacon. They would be able to see who was coming and react accordingly. Clint and Maria would retreat further into the cave and hide in the darkness. He'd be able to kill any unexpected trouble from a distance without giving away their position. 

Assassin and trooper began their walk in silence. Natasha led, having a good idea as to where she wanted to set up. Ariel walked in her footsteps, giving the impression of there only being one person on the move. Night fell, making them feel safer and more paranoid. It'd be hard to see their dark clothes, but if their pursuers had night vision, the duo were screwed.

The hill they crested dropped into the water a few hundred feet down. There were strong, thick trees rooted into the windswept earth. Natasha easily scaled one with acrobatic grace. Ariel took a running leap and launched herself up into the branches. Where the assassin was smooth and agile, the trooper was brute strength. Once in the highest branches, Natasha triggered her beacon. 

Ariel took a deep breath and settled against the trunk. "Huh."

Natasha looked down. "Hm?"

"Mediterranean smells different from the Pacific."

Natasha supposed she could say something about the environments being very different. But that was a given. Ariel wasn't complaining, just observing. She left it at that.

They sat in silence, watching the woods and water. There were a few nocturnal animals, including an owl who was surprised to see Ariel when it landed next to her. Natasha noted it wasn't a tense, awkward silence. Clint would be speaking, quiet but humorous. Ariel just relaxed in the tree, eyes catching movements here and there.

It took half an hour for their radios to crackle. Coulson's voice rattled off a code, and Natasha replied with the proper code in response.

"We haven't been able to get eyes on the helicopter crash," he said. "Status?"

"Hill has a broken leg. Barton, myself, and Malaya could use some sleep."

"We'll meet at the standard point from your beacon."

"Understood."

Natasha left her beacon in the tree. When Coulson came by, he would trigger the meltdown. They climbed down, Natasha still smoother than the swinging drops Ariel took.

"You've climbed a lot of trees," Natasha commented once they were on the ground.

Ariel grinned. "It's fun. And free food, in some of 'em."

Natasha headed due east, Ariel falling in line behind her to hide their number. When they were half a mile away, they took to the trees again. 

"ETA?" Natasha asked into her comm.

Coulson's reply was immediate. "Twenty minutes. You'll hear us."

Eleven minutes into the wait, Ariel's radio chirped twice. "Fuck." That was the signal from Hill that they'd been found.

Natasha was already heading down the tree as she spoke. "Hill and Barton's position has been compromised. We're going back. Activating second beacon."

Ariel triggered hers as they jogged through the woods. She rattled off her code almost absently.

"Acknowledged," Coulson replied, though Ariel could hear a grim note to his voice.

A hundred feet from the cave, Natasha halted them and pointed ahead. Ariel swept her eyes through the woods. "I count seven."

"Same. I'm going to circle to the south. Grab their attention in fifteen seconds."

"Done."

Natasha vanished into the shadows, moving silently. Ariel counted down, then tossed a grenade before laying down enough cover fire to allow Natasha to run towards the cave. They'd need to secure it to get Hill and Barton out. She tossed another grenade at Natasha's signal. Barton had an explosive arrow, and he used that to cover Natasha's gunfire as well.

The sound of a heavy chopper made relief sing through Ariel's veins. Retaliatory fire ceased, but she and Natasha still moved carefully towards the cave. Ariel saw the movement and ducked back behind a tree before automatic gunfire rained her way.

"Ya missed, motha fucker!"

"Come say that to my face, bitch!"

A single gun shot rang out.

"Thank you, Agent Romanoff."

"You're welcome, Agent Malaya."

They got to the entrance of the cave without further incident. Natasha slipped deeper and Ariel took a position in the dark at the side of the cave. The helicopter arrived and dropped six lines. Coulson and her team dropped in, along with two other Strike agents. They had an extra harness with them. Ariel stepped out of the shadows, P-90 lowered. 

Barton and Romanoff exited with Hill between them. Hill was fitted with the harness and went up with the two extra Strike agents. The helicopter headed away, allowing them to speak.

Santos handed energy bars and water from her field pack. "I bring you gifts."

The three agents scarfed down the processed food and water while the others secured the bodies and site. 

"Injuries?" Coulson asked.

Barton shook his head. "Bumps and scratches from the landing. We could use some secure sleep, but we're good until dawn."

"It won't be that long. There's another chopper in route."

Ariel joined her team and caught Jones and Banister glancing at Coulson now and again. "What's with the shy crush eyes?"

Santos snorted.

Banister pointedly looked deeper into the woods. "You know those rumors of Coulson being a badass?" he asked quietly.

Jones cleared a body of weapons. "Not rumors."

Ariel chuckled.

~

Ariel walked on quiet feet to answer the doorbell of her apartment. She checked the camera, not the peephole, and was surprised by what she saw. She opened the door, thumbing the safety on her gun.

Natasha held a plastic bag out to her. "Hold this until Saturday."

Ariel took it and left the door open as she walked away. "Do I wanna know?"

"Barton's birthday gift," Natasha said as she closed the door behind her. "He's been trying to find it."

Ariel stuck it in a small cabinet in a bookshelf. "And he won't check occasional sparring partner's place."

"I hope."

Ariel put the sidearm down and leaned against the wall. "Dinner's about done if the smell is interesting enough."

"It is, but I don't want to intrude."

"I wouldn't have offered if I didn't mean it. I don't know how to make single servings, so there's enough for two."

Natasha gave it a moment's thought. "If you honestly don't mind, okay."

Ariel nodded and headed into the kitchen, Natasha trailing behind her. The assassin examined the clean but lived in apartment. It wasn't SHIELD housing, but the building was secure enough. There were various trinkets from Angel Grove, pictures of family and friends, and a handful of items from missions. One photo had been laminated and taped to the freezer door. It was of a petite brunette wearing a leotard and gold medal, as well as a huge smile.

"Who's this?" Natasha asked, accepting the glass of water.

"My best friend from school, Kim Hart. Olympic gold medalist five years ago."

Natasha wanted to ask why the picture was taking up most of the freezer door five years after the event, but didn't think she had the right. Instead, she watched plates of rice get covered in spare ribs and cabbage stew. The smell was stronger now, and her stomach rumbled in anticipation. 

They sat on the couch and Natasha agreed to watching Animal Planet as they ate. She did ask why Ariel enjoyed a strange Australian man chase after deadly creatures. 

"It's the least like work." Well, that was true.

The episode ended before the food was completely gone, and the next show as called Big Cat Diary. Which made Ariel mutter in a dialect of Filipino Natasha never picked up.

"You need to eat your food and leave," she said, clearly joking.

Natasha gave her a slightly amused look. "Why?"

"Chances are I will cry while watching this."

Natasha made a point of settling deeper into the couch and slowly chewing.

"So much hate," Ariel muttered.

Natasha decided this was one of the most heart breaking things she'd ever seen on television. She had no idea why a quiet English man attributing human interpretations of emotions to large predators was having such an effect on her. But it was.

"I understand crazy Australian men," Natasha said as they took their plates to the kitchen. "That? That is self inflicted emotional abuse."

"Never watch Animal Precinct. You will want to shoot so many people."

"Isn't that on next?"

Ariel shook her head, rapidly. "No. Of course not. Please leave."

Natasha marched right back to the couch and planted herself down. While commercials played, Ariel picked up her cordless phone and dialed a number.

"How does one not get killed by angry Russian assassins?...Because I was asked to hide something until Saturday, and I offer food to visitors....Animal Precinct is about to come on...That's not helpful, Sarah...If I die, you know you'll have to deal with being second in command, right?" She pulled the handset away to look at it. "She laughed and hung up. Bitch."

The intro was started. "New York City... 8 million people... 5 million pets... 15 animal cruelty agents with full police powers... Welcome, to the Animal Precinct."

An hour later, Natasha glared at Ariel. "Show me something funny. Now."

Ariel quickly changed the channel and sighed in relief at the sound of the Mythbusters music. Half way through the show, Natasha suddenly understood some of the rumors that came out of the R&D department. She prayed Clint never found this show. After that, Natasha stood and headed for the door. "Thank you for dinner."

"No problem." She rattled off a short series of numbers. "That's the code to the fire escape window, in case I'm not here on Saturday."

Given the nature of SHIELD's work, and when Strike was called in, it was a possibility. Natasha nodded and left, knowing the code would only be good until Saturday.

If, after that visit, Natasha gained a reputation for secreting cats and puppies out of hostile environments on missions, well, no one said a word if they thought the Black Widow could hear them.


	4. Again, Really?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have no idea if this is how wing suits work. I don't have enough internet left to watch videos, and all I've ever seen was in the 3rd Transformers movie *sweat drop* And, again, I stole names from Stargate cause I can.

The Strike offices were a typical cubical hell. The leaders of each of the three units got their own offices, but that was due to the sensitive information they usually had to deal with. Ariel's cubical was on the large side, and in the area for Second in Commands. It was also near the unit leaders, to make it easier for them to gather those higher in position to hear the latest. 

"Malaya, tell your team to prep then you get in here."

She didn't even look at Shepard before firing off a message at Sarah, Kyle, and Charlie. She put her computer to sleep before stepping into his office, closing the glass door behind her. "What's up, boss?"

He motioned her around his desk to look at the desktop. "You four are going with Hill to retrieve Strike Team Delta."

"We honestly have to stop meeting like this," she murmured as she looked over the brief details.

"You guys deal with Romanoff well."

"I've met scarier, Santos thinks she's awesome, Banister's mom is military, and Jones is the youngest with five sisters and a single mom. We know Romanoff's a bad ass. We also know there's not much we can do about it, so why worry?" Shepard gave her a look. She blinked. "Wut?"

"Sometimes I have to actively remember you've dealt with alien monsters."

Ariel grinned. "Even the best humans are only human." She headed out after that, orders in her head. Her team fell in step behind her as she headed for the locker rooms meant for mission prep. 

"Hot or cold?" Kyle asked.

"Hot. Pack light. Wingsuits."

Kyle and Charlie traded high fives as they headed into the men's locker room. Ariel traded eye rolls with Sarah; boys, oye.

Twenty minutes later, they were boarding one of the new quinjets behind Agent Hill. The brunette woman tossed her thumb over her shoulder. "Take co-pilot, Malaya, their briefing isn't going to be anything new."

She settled into the chair next to the pilot, a younger agent she didn't know. Her three teammates were told about the situation they were heading for. 

It wasn't good.

It took far too long to get over most of Canada and into the mountainous forest where the compound was hidden. They prepped their wing suits and parachutes, getting final details off the map of the area. This was a night drop, as well as a stealth entry into hostile territory. 

Hill tapped a section of the map. "Rendezvous here after landing. If you can make a kill without bringing instant attention to yourself, do it."

"Fifteen seconds to drop," the pilot said over their comms.

Hill gave him final orders before opening the bay door. Ariel stepped to the edge and grinned back at her team, quoting her best friend from a near decade before. "See ya on the flip side." 

She back flipped out, letting the cool air envelope her. Her eyes adapted to the darkness quickly, and she let herself rocket down for a long moment. This was as close as she could get to the thrill of morphing. She spread the suit slowly. When the wind caught, she angled around the base to get a better visual of the compound. 

Big. Not well lit in some areas. Oh, was that a walkway between the two largest buildings? And a single guard? There was no way she could pass up the opportunity. She'd be pulling her chute a little late, but she could handle a rough landing for a decent distraction.

The angle of her body tilted to slow her a bit. She flexed her fingers to fight the cold. 

"Malaya, I did NOT approve your current maneuver," Hill's voice rang clear in the comm.

"That's why I didn't ask permission."

Five years of improvising tactics against aliens roared back as she closed in. Come in at his side, not on top. Her arm couldn't fold the wing or she'd spin. Compensate for his movement. Pray he didn't look her way.

"You won't have time to pull your chute," Santos pointed out, not worried. She knew her leader did what she was capable of, nothing more.

"Not in time for a soft landing."

Lock arm in place. Hand open, grab, release. Her own momentum did the work of pulling him over the rail. He gave a shout of surprise as he fell. 

Her body angled to catch air, bringing her back up above the buildings even as she moved forward. 

"Caw caw mother fucker."

Hill's replay was instant. "Barton, report."

Ariel listened to him update the situation as she passed the grounds and pulled her chute. She rolled as she landed in the clearing, risking a tangle in her chute. But at least her legs were intact. After stuffing her gear in her pack, she jogged for the meeting point.

Barton reported Coulson and Romanoff captured. He was ready to break Coulson out, but Romanoff might not be cooperative. Ariel volunteered for that extraction.

"She will probably kill you if you pull that missing firing pin shit on her again," Barton said.

"At least she'll have realized it was my tricky ass that did it before."

He grunted. "I guess."

Ariel disassembled her side arm and removed the pin while Hill and Barton made a plan of attack over the comms. Santos, Banister and Jones would head for the archer and handler. Hill and Ariel would go for Romanoff.

Ariel grabbed Kyle's helmet. "No getting shot."

He smirked. "No death by spider."

Ariel murmured a rhyme her mother used to say as they slipped into the compound. "Spider, spider, long and tall. Spider, spider, on the wall. Don't you know that wall is plaster? Get off of there, you dirty...spider."  
'  
Natasha could hear the alarms, but there was no echo of gun fire. Perhaps it wasn't an attack, but something else. This was a rather large facility. Who knew what could go wrong in buildings of experiments. 

Natasha could only hope she wouldn't die to someone else's mistake. 

Minutes passed before she heard the report of two bullets down the hall and the thump and slump of her guard. Another long moment went by until the jingle of keys opened her cell door. She waited against the wall, and when the door slowly opened, she struck.

The door slammed into the wall at her yank. She grabbed the sidearm out of the hands of the first person through the door. From there, she twisted that person's arms and body, getting the soldier under her control and with the gun pointed to their head. The body relaxed against her, making no move to fight back.

"Hawkeye, I need you to sing," a second soldier said.

From the radio clipped to the other woman's chest came a voice that Natasha knew she should know. He called her Tasha, Nat, asked her to cooperate. She could go her own way once she was safely out of the facility. Just don't kill the people with her. Lock them in the cell, take their weapons, but don't hurt them.

The brunette in the doorway looked away to put two bullets in a threat down the hall. 

His voice was so achingly familiar. He was so desperate for her to listen. Part of her wanted to do as he said, another part rebelled against the idea.

His voice suddenly cut off by another man. "Romanoff, even if you can't trust us, trust that you're still listening."

Coulson. Clint. 

She released Malaya and held out the gun. "Give me a working weapon."

"Thank you, gentlemen," Hill said into her comm.

The shorter woman chuckled as she holstered the useless gun and handed over her P-90. Natasha nodded her thanks and Malaya grabbed the guard's gun before they headed down the hall.

Hill handed Natasha a spare comm. "Injuries?"

"Nothing debilitating."

"That wasn't my question."

"I'll answer on the transport out."  
~  
Natasha waited against the wall, watching Ariel move around the wooden dummy ring. The younger woman was wearing padding, and a glance at the computer told Natasha just how long Ariel had been at it. Almost an hour. 

The latest session ended with a tense creak of wood. If she were any stronger, there would be a crack. Instead, Ariel took a breath and relaxed. She stepped out of the ring and sat on the bench next to Natasha, sipping her water bottle.

"How long are you grounded?"

"Three weeks." The wing suit stunt was dangerous, but effective. No one had seen her and everyone was focused on why the man fell.

"Killing people bothers you."

Ariel didn't deny it. "How'd you figure?"

"You only do this after ops."

"I know if I don't kill them, I die. Knowing something and living with it are very different."

"Why stay with Strike?"

She shrugged. "I'm good in a fight."

Natasha gave her an unimpressed look.

"If B Unit's not due out, Shep sends us S&R or emergency evac. Once, we were sent as a mock SAWT team when NYPD didn't know who they had in custody."

"Versatile."

"We try."

Natasha nodded towards the mats. "I'll show you the counter to the hold I put you in."

Ariel stood without complaint. "The plan was to be taken hostage."

"Barton says you have a strange version of Stockholm Syndrome."

"You won't kill me."

Natasha stopped and gave Ariel a hard look. "Never believe that."

Something in Ariel's eyes flickered, and it wasn't fear or doubt. It was something almost animalistic. But it was there and gone, replaced with cool calm. "You might try, one day. But you won't succeed."

Natasha didn't see arrogance or foolish belief in Ariel. It was a simple fact. This was also the young woman who was recruited because she fought alien monsters.

They hit the mats. That was as much as they could do.  
~  
"Team Two, with me."

The quartet fell in behind Hill as they left the C130, even as Kyle moaned, "Can we at least get breakfast before our next drop?"

"You're not being sent out," Hill said, stopping when they were a reasonable distance from anyone. "You're being reassigned."

She was met with confused looks, since that wasn't a good thing within Strike.

"In the past year, seventy percent of your ops have been without or outside your unit. Ninety five percent of those ops are successful. The four of you are being made into a stand alone team."

"Under who's handling?" Sarah asked, wary of getting someone who had no clue how to handle, them or in general.

"Mine." There was a glint in her eyes, half amused, but vicious.

Charlie hummed. "This could work."

"Report to medical. Pack your desks tomorrow morning, and at oh-nine-hundred, I'll show you to the new office."

They all nodded and headed inside. This was going to be interesting.  
'  
The quartet arrived at the Unit B office just a slight bit hung-over. The rest of the unit had thrown a party at one of the more SHIELD frequented bars the night before. It wasn't too bad, since they were all still on call and had to be back the next day. But it'd been fun.

"Malaya."

Ariel headed for Shepard's office, her desk already cleared. She was just prepping the computer to wipe her personal data. "What's up, not-boss?"

He grinned a little. "Who do you think would make a good second?"

She turned to look out the window. She was thinking about it in the infirmary, wondering who he would pick. Her eyes flicked over her top three; good attitudes, decent sense of humor, and willingness to keep their people alive. When she turned back, she rattle off three names. "O'Neill, Ferriti or Ford."

"No one's gonna take Ford seriously just yet. Maybe in a year or two. I know for a fact Ferriti's getting poached for A Unit. Go tell O'Neill her life just got a bit more difficult thanks to you."

Ariel grinned and wound her way through the cubicles to Sam O'Neill's cubby. She ripped the team leader badge off the blonde's sleeve and replaced it with her own second in command patch. Sam's blue eyes went wide. "What?"

Ariel grinned. "I'm just the messenger. The details are with the devil in his office."

She stood up, a chorus of whoops and congratulations echoed around the room. "Thank you," she murmured, still surprised.

"You take care of these people."

When she nodded, it was firm, her eyes more sure. "I will."

Ariel grabbed her box of stuff and joined her team in the hall. Nothing better than slipping away when everyone else was distracted by good news.

~

A month after Ariel and her team were moved under Hill's command, there was a knock on her apartment door. Since she wasn't expecting anyone, she answered with gun in hand. Natasha stood just outside, a pizza box in hand. Ariel frowned, but opened the door.

"For some reason, I'm worried."

There was a tiny smirk on Natasha's face. "That means you're thinking." She stepped inside and held the box higher. "You fed me once."

"I fed you because I was raised on Filipino guest law. But I will accept free food."

Natasha frowned as she followed Ariel to the couch. "Guest law?"

"The unofficial rules of having guests over, expected and not. Slight difference for family, friends, and coworkers, but usually just general politeness and welcoming attitude."

"And if you don't like someone who comes over unannounced?"

"Kill 'em with minimal kindness." She shrugged. "Do we need plates and napkins? And what do you want to drink?"

"Water's fine. I'll take a napkin unless you need me to use a plate."

Ariel snorted. "Find something you want to watch and don't worry about crumbs."

Natasha changed the channel to Animal Planet. "This show makes me angry."

"Than change it?" Ariel handed over a glass of water. "I really don't want a murderous assassin stewing on my couch if I can help it."

Natasha flipped to Discovery Channel. It was How It's Made, which was as basic a premise as it could get while still being interesting. She got through one process before looking at Ariel. "Did I just watch how c.d.s are made?"

"Double dog dare ya to watch it in front of Barton like it's your favorite show."

Natasha considered it for a moment. "If I can get a decent reaction on video?"

"Another meal on me. Mostly because I have no idea what else to offer you."

"I like knives."

"Culinary or weaponized?"

Natasha gave her a too innocent look. "There's a difference?"

Ariel rolled her eyes. "Food. I'm not arming you in my house."

Natasha pouted, but they shook on it. 

~

There were four more ops between the two women before Natasha could get evidence of her freaking out Clint with her choice of shows. There were another two missions before Natasha could show the video to Ariel. Then there was another two weeks of various responsibilities and detail filling before they could be in the same place at the same time. 

Natasha entered the apartment and left her shoes on the mat inside the door. "The beer you drink is -NOT- easy to find."

"You brought me evidence of Barton's freak out, you didn't need to bring beer." Ariel cracked open two bottles. "But I will accept free alcohol."

Natasha clinked her bottle with Ariel's, before looking at the stove. "What are you making me?"

"Pancit. I think." She scrunched her nose. "My grandma gave me the recipe, but she has no faith in my skills."

Natasha raised an eyebrow. "If it's not pancit?"

"Pizza. And I owe you food, still."

Natasha decided to accept the offer of more free food. She could feed herself quite well, but she stuck to things that only needed one pan or pot. If she wanted variety, she'd eat out. Or coordinate with Coulson. He liked cooking, too. It probably had something to do with having a normal childhood. Clint was worse than her at cooking, in that his cooking usually involved the microwave.

Since summer was cooling down, they sat at the window seat Ariel had cobbled together. The sounds were muffled by the cacti on the sill. "How do they survive winter?"

Ariel snorted. "They don't. I replace them every spring." She turned one pot. "This guy's made it once. I've gotta figure out what it is, maybe get something similar."

They talked about work in an abstract way and for not very long. Topics drifted and changed, comments on the people passing beneath on the street, and careful inquiries into the other's cooking abilities. When the food was ready, they settled in front of the television with plates of stir fry. Ariel took a picture of it and emailed it to her relatives before digging in. Once again, it was Animal Planet on the t.v. This time, it was a happy show called K9 to 5.

"That was sickeningly cute," Natasha said.

"Do we need violence to feel like strong women who don't need a man?"

"Yes."

Smash Lab was on Discovery Channel, which was good since Ariel didn't think actual violence would do them any good. Though Natasha finished eating before the episode ended, she stayed put. When she left, she promised herself the next time they were in New York at the same time, she would make dinner for Ariel.


	5. Fighting it All

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For those on the east coast, Tagalongs are the west coast peanut butter chocolate patties Girl Scout cookies.

"We really have to stop meeting like this," Ariel murmured as she slid into the shadows next to Natasha.

She pouted. "I thought you liked our rendezvous."

"Not when we're on comms and have tag-a-longs."

"You brought her Girl Scout cookies but sent the angry Hispanic woman to me?" Barton demanded.

"Your six is about to have a bullet in it," Santos growled.

"Children, we have some of SHIELD's most knowledgeable minds in that building," Agent Hand said. "If we could please move forward?"

"All units in place," Barton reported, his voice calm and emotionless.

"Widow, move in. Team B, kill anything that comes out those door. Hawkeye, confirm visual."

He peered through the windows as Natasha and Ariel vanished into the squat building. "Second floor, south corner."

In the hallways, assassin and trooper ran on soft feet. They killed only those they came across, silenced bullets helping their stealth. They hit the elevator button as they passed, then slipped into the stairwell.

"Alarm's gone up," Santos reported.

"I hope they like the new paint job," Ariel replied.

There were twice as many people to kill now that they were aware of what was going on. They still kept silencers on, giving their enemy a harder time of finding them. They ignored closed doors until they reached the south corner of the building. The second room revealed their goal.

Coulson and Hill were handcuffed to chairs, the dead bodies of the other agents littering the ground around them.

Ariel shut the door and pushed a small bookcase in front of it while Natasha picked the locks on the handcuffs.

"We were controlled," Hill said, voice rough. Blood stained her teeth and lips. "Chemicals, conditioning."

Ariel opened the window Hawkeye had spotted their handlers from. She started to hook up the ropes needed to get out. Natasha checked them over for injuries. Both captured agents were weak and stressed after two days of torture.

There were a lot of bullet holes and knife slices in the three dead agents.

Jones and Banister were waiting beneath the open window. Ariel pulled a harness from her small pack. Hill was secured quickly and lowered down. She didn't complain about not being given a weapon. Coulson was lowered next. Natasha dumped accelerant on the bodies and around the room before using the window frames to climb down. Ariel tossed a flare behind her as she followed Natasha down.

The room burst into flames.

The agents retreated into the night.

~

Natasha left Phil under Clint's watch and texted Ariel about showing up with food. Natasha wasn't ready to let her mind rest.

+You're welcome over, as long as you don't mind I've company.+

+I don't want to intrude.+

+You won't, trust me. Kim's just crashing here so she doesn't have to get a hotel.+ 

Natasha remembered the newspaper clipping of the Olympic gold medalist. She wasn't sure if she wanted to be around old friends who were no doubt catching up. But maybe getting lost in their normalcy would be a respite from her complications. So she headed to the store and adjusted the recipe for three, which wasn't hard given she had made it before for both Clint and Coulson at the same time.

Ariel started to poke through the bags the moment they were on the counter. Natasha ordered her about for measuring cups and spoons, as well as the pot and pan she would be needing. Kimberly Hart sat at the table in sweats, with a mug of Irish coffee in her hands. She was just off a trans-Atlantic flight. Natasha wondered how much of Ariel's antics were real and what was for Kim's benefit.

"Will you sit down?" Kim demanded. "You're acting like you never have people over."

"This is a new event in my life," Ariel insisted even as she went to to perch on the back of a chair, her feet on the seat. "Usually I'm the one doing the cooking."

"That's because you're Filipino and don't know how to cook for just one person."

"You never complained when Mom let you stay for dinner."

"Well, duh, you guys had more than salads and pork chops. So. Natasha. Ariel speaks nothing about her work life."

Natasha was a little surprised at how perceiving those hazel eyes were. "The parts that aren't classified are too mundane to talk about. But I will tell you she lets me beat her up under the pretense of learning something new."

That made Kim brighten. "This I've got to see."

"I do learn new things," Ariel insisted. "And you've seen me get my ass handed to me. In high school. Daily."

"Yes, but they were nice about it. I think this would actually hurt."

"You're mean."

"Pansy."

Ariel blew a raspberry, then turned to Natasha. "Anything I can help with?"

Natasha shook her head. "I've seen your knife work. How do you still have fingers?"

Kim laughed and told Natasha about a camping trip which ended up with a whole potato going to Ariel because she cut herself so much trying to slice it. She was stuck on firewood duty for the rest of the trip.

Ariel didn't seem to care that they were bonding over her embarrassment.

Natasha sat while the food simmered. Ariel got her a beer and topped off Kim's coffee. Ariel managed to keep to conversation going over current events and occasional childhood stories at her expense. Kim had a stereotypical southern California accent, and was down to earth and prone to good humor. Natasha didn't mind the other woman's presence as much as she thought she would.

When the food was ready, Natasha could just about see Ariel salivating. Kim had to poke her into getting the plates and cutlery while the gymnast took their drinks to the coffee table. Natasha plated the food and heard the television turn on.

"Preferences?" Kim called at them.

"The usual," Ariel answered.

"Oh, God, you converted someone? Really?"

"It's the least like work."

Kim was quiet for a long moment. "You do know we're best friends with a hacker, right?"

"Don't ask Billy to do that," Ariel said, carrying two plates. "He'll disappear into the bowels and Trini will never forgive us."

Natasha watched the two women take their first bite. Both liked it instantly. They weren't just saying that, either. Natasha could see how much they were actually enjoying the food. It made her feel satisfied in a way that didn't usually occur.

Two hours later, after ranting about people who were assholes to animals and laughing at how idiotic cats really were, they cleaned up and Natasha prepared to leave.

"I still want to watch you beat the shit out of my best friend," Kim said.

"If neither of us are doing anything this weekend, I'll make it worth the wait."

"This is not gonna be a spectator sport, Kimmie."

"Don't call me that, shark bait. And fine. I'm game."

Natasha didn't warn her against it. She'd learn soon enough.  
'  
That weekend, Kimberly stretched on the roof of Ariel's building. It was a well kept space, with a basketball hoop in front of a high fence in one corner and a small shed for exercise equipment, including a set of well kept sparring mats. There were three water bottles on a small table under an umbrella, and her best friend was stretching opposite the pretty, soft spoken red head.

Kim wasn't fooled. Natasha wasn't just a quiet person Ariel took in like Kim had taken in Trini, and they Billy. There was something stronger about Natasha the woman wasn't ready or willing to show Kim. Which was fine. Kim was a stranger. There was no reason for Natasha to want to be herself around her.

Kim would admit to letting her martial arts skills slip since Angel Grove. She could probably still defend herself from a mugger, but it would have more to do with her current gymnastics and old habits than actual lethality. Ariel, she could see, was still in top form. If anything, Ariel was in a better state than she had been in high school.

Whatever it was they did for a living, it required a level of self discipline Kim really only saw in Jase and Tommy. All Kim knew was Ariel's work agreed with the code they kept to as Rangers.

"I really should make you go first so you're not braced for impact," Ariel groused.

"You and me could go first," Kim offered.

Natasha immediately sat down. "Yes. Please. Let me see your style so I can better prepare against it."

Kim cursed but fell into a ready position across from Ariel. She knew she was doomed, anyway, since anyone who could knock Ariel down had to be amazing. Ariel reached out first, and Kim was there to meet her. They tested each other for a minute. Kim hadn't sparred in months, keeping to her gymnastics. But two years in a hand to hand war didn't fade easily even after years of being gone.

Her eyes could still spot openings, her body still moved in and out of the way as needed with very little active thought, and she could still mix martial arts with her gymnastics.

Still, she was going to have bruises. Even with Ariel going easy on her.

Kim ended the session by somersaulting away from Ariel and popping up at the edge of the mat. Her friend remembered the signal as if they still did this every week.

Natasha tossed them their water bottles. "You've fought for your life before."

Kim shrugged. "We were idiot kids who hung out in the park that monsters liked to land in."

"It -was- the only park in the city," Ariel pointed out. "But, yeah, sometimes it took the Power Rangers a few minutes to arrive."

"The martial artists in the group beat a few basics into the rest of us."

"You should try Capoeira," Natasha said. "It might work well with your gymnastics."

Kim considered it for a moment. "I think I've seen it before. Maybe I will, just so I can blow Zach's mind the next time we're in the same time zone."

Ariel flopped under the umbrella. "Zach liked to call his style hip-hop-kido. Akido with breakdancing."

Natasha gave Ariel a look. "You're not tired."

"I'm resting."

After five more minutes, Natasha motioned Kim up and back on the mats. "You're going to earn the enjoyment of Ariel's embarrassment."

Kim shook herself loose and fell into a ready stance. Natasha was nowhere near kind. Kim found herself with a bit of an adrenaline rush. Natasha was kinda like Scorpina, fast strikes that didn't impact a large part of the body, but stung like hell. Instinct overrode her caution. This wasn't how she fought a Putty or Tenga, but more an evil Ranger. Disable. Take down, not out-

She impacted with the mats. Kim focused on the pleased face above her as her lungs heaved in oxygen. Natasha. Right. Sparring.

"You held back."

Kim took the hand up. "I figured I'd get one chance to surprise you."

Natasha shook her head. "You shifted gears. You went from sparring to a real fight."

"Oh, God, I didn't try to really hurt you, did I?"

"Not really." Natasha looked between the two Power Rangers. "More of a knock out, than a kill."

Ariel's eyes were half closed. "Sometimes people weren't themselves. Ivan Ooze was just the longest lasting incident."

"I see."

They took a short break, and Kim took the advice with grace and pleasure. It was nice to be the student, after so long being the teacher.

"Time to die," Ariel muttered as she stood.

Kim rolled her eyes. "Oh, knock it off."

There was no testing of speed or strength. There were no warm up moves. Nothing about the instant clash was anything like Kim remembered from high school. She'd almost call it out of control, except for the way they flowed. Block to dodge to blow to duck. It wasn't the dance she saw in Jase and Tommy, Rocky and Adam. This was a true test of skill.

It was the ninja competition all over again. It was Adam, Jason and Tommy defending Angel Grove's martial arts title after Muranthias.

It was amazing.

Kim knew Ariel's way of taking blows to gain a hit inside an opponent's defense. She was used to Ariel sacrificing strength for speed. Her penchant for kill blows had made her a vicious fighter in high school. Natasha kept pace with it all. And then went one step further.

Ariel wasn't having an easy time of it, but she was enjoying it. Kim could see the gleam in her eyes and the bright smile. Natasha was having fun, too. Kim wondered what was in the woman's past, to make her deadlier than a Power Ranger.

Kim was about as likely to find out as Natasha was about their secret.

Natasha took Ariel down with a move that had Kim clapping in awe and laughing at Ariel's noise of surprise.

"Aw, c'mon! You said you wouldn't use that on me!"

The other woman shrugged, a small smile on her face. "I lied."

"-So- much hate," Ariel grumbled as she threw an arm over her eyes. "I'mma tell the feather head to do something to you."

Natasha was unimpressed. "He wouldn't dare."

"Us victims stick together, just wait and see."

"Mmhmm."

Kim rolled a water bottle at Ariel. "You know you like it."

"I don't like flying without warning," she groused.

After cleaning up the area, they went downstairs to the crockpot that was just about done with the chicken dish Ariel had started in at dawn. They discussed fighting styles as they ate. Natasha had to downplay her knowledge and abilities, but not as much as she thought she'd need to. Ariel and Kim were both experts in ways the assassin wasn't expecting. While Ariel knew the Black Widow, Kim wasn't surprised or suspicious of Natasha's knowledge.

Natasha took her leave of the friends, wanting a shower and some time to herself. Clint would no doubt show up for dinner, either with it or looking for it. She could never predict which, just that he took one meal with her a day during their downtime. Sometimes they dragged Coulson out of SHIELD for a few hours, too.

Kim looped her arm through Ariel's as they walked through Central Park later that day. "Who is she?"

Ariel didn't feign confusion or bother lying. She answered softly in Eltaran, just to be safe. "I never outright asked, but she's an assassin. International renown, defected from the KGB. Was brought in by one of our snipers, instead of killed."

Kim laughed. "You're always attracted to the dangerous ones."

Ariel glared. "This is nothing like Scorpina! We're friends because I'm not afraid of her."

"Should you be?"

She shrugged. "Probably."

Kim considered her friend for a moment. "This place. I think it's doing you good."

Ariel smiled. She'd have to agree.


	6. Ramble On

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Merry Christmas!
> 
> I now have a beta. She is most awesome.

"Romanoff!"

Ariel and Natasha moved apart and watched Clint stalk into the gym. Ariel immediately started coughing because she didn't want an arrow in her ass for laughing. Of the half dozen agents in the gym at this time of night, two plain up and left, one started to gather their things, one had earbuds in and eyes closed, and the other two were too used to crazy shit to so much as blink.

"You honestly don't think I'd do that, do you?" Natasha asked, raising an eyebrow at state of her partner's hair.

"I honestly don't put anything past you." He glared between the two women. "And I know that one would do it if you asked."

Ariel straightened up, still grinning. "Nuh-uh, dude. I wouldn't mess with your shit, 'cause I don't want you doing the same to me."

"I don't trust you. You -like- getting tossed around a mat."

She shrugged. "Learn something new by the end of it."

He glared at Natasha. "You. I'll get you."

"I didn't do it, Clint. When would I have had the time?"

It was true. They'd just come back from a mission, and had been at debriefs and meals at the same time. The past three hours were the first time they weren't in each other's presence in over a week.

"You could've done it before we left," he groused.

"Knowing we had an op, I wouldn't have done something to set you off if things went south like they usually do when we get sent out."

His eyes narrowed. "The more sense you make, the more suspicious you look."

Natasha rolled her eyes, turning her back to him and motioning for Ariel to get ready. "You're not angry your hair is violently purple, you're angry someone pranked you."

He muttered a cursed oath before stalking out of the gym. That was also true. He'd just get back at the usual suspects. If a war erupted from it, well, it'd be good for morale.

Once he was gone, Natasha murmured, "Do you know?"

Ariel grinned. "Maria." She was pinned. "He told the baby agents my stunt with the wing suit." She flipped back up. "Started a rumor among them my code name's Night Wing."

Natasha dodged a few attacks, countering with ease. "And no one will believe "Hard-ass Hill" would stoop to pranks."

"Reputations are great when you use them to your advantage."

~*~

It wasn't so much that the intel was bad, just that the country went balls up overnight. In the span of half an hour, the city was embroiled in a civil war after the military leader decided to just remove the country leader's head. On television.

The compound Strike Team Delta and Strike Team 9 were in was bombed. The mission suddenly didn't matter, and they found themselves splitting up and running from the surrounding military forces. The country's former leader may have been okay with the cartel SHIELD was investigating, but the military would have order.

This was how Natasha, Maria, and Ariel found themselves hiding in an unused sewage drain at the edge of the city. Clint was with Kyle and Charlie in the recent ruins of some embassy, and Sarah was with Phil looking for a way out of the area.

"Any p'ticular reason I can only hear outta one side?" Ariel muttered as she came to.

"Thank fuck," Maria said as she moved towards the other woman. "You tried to survive being thrown from a second floor by landing on your head."

"Sooo I'm lucky I can wiggle my toes?"

"Yes."

"I'm throwing you off heights until you learn how to land," Natasha murmured from her position near the entrance of the pipe.

Ariel took the pain pills Maria gave her and didn't palm them. "You know she cares when she threatens to teach something."

Maria's lips twitched up. "This will hurt." She poured water on the messed up side of Ariel's head. Hands fisted, but the agent didn't flinch away.

Pain swam through her head and her vision blurred. She heaved in a breath slowly, unsure how bad the pain in her side would get.

Yeah, that was pretty bad.

"Malaya," Maria snapped.

Her eyes flew open, unfocused. "Here. Sorta."

"Stay conscious."

"You don' ask for much," Ariel grumbled.

Maria checked her watch. "I'm going to meet Coulson and Santos. We'll grab Barton's group, then come back here. If we're not back in two hours, leave."

Natasha nodded once. When Maria was gone, green eyes focused on Ariel. "If you don't move something every four minutes, I'll do something to wake you up."

"I have a horrible feeling none of those things will be pleasant." Ariel kept time by singing songs in her head. She'd twitch a limb, check a weapon, or ask Natasha to name a constellation.

"I don't know anymore," Natasha said after the fourth star question.

Ariel waited another four minutes before attempting to move.

"What are you doing?" Natasha asked as she moved to help.

"Trying to reach fresh air." Ariel lay in the dark behind the assassin. "You see that hook shape above that tree missing a chunk?"

Natasha found it instantly.

"That's Scorpio. Leaning coconut tree in Java. Fish hook for Polynesia."

Natasha glanced down at the Filipina, then back up. "What else?"

For the next twenty three minutes, Ariel pointed out constellations, bright stars, and told the stories behind them. Natasha didn't ask where she learned all this. She didn't ask if it was a result of living in a city attacked by aliens, trying to figure out where they came from. She didn't ask if this was just what kids learned, normal ones with family and friends. She didn't ask if there was something Ariel wanted to do before SHIELD.

She just let the steady whisper impart knowledge. Took comfort in the other agent being alive. Was grateful she wasn't standing over a dead body.

Two jeeps showed up while Ariel spoke of the North Star. She went quiet and still, flicking the safety off her P-90. But a purple glow stick cracked into existence, and Natasha relaxed.

"That's Barton."

Ariel huffed a laugh. "Dork."

Sarah and Maria used a thick plank of wood to move Ariel. She was loaded and laid out on a back seat. They needed to get themselves out of the country before they could call for evac.

Charlie didn't look back at his team leader, but he cursed.

"What?" Maria demanded as she followed close behind Coulson's jeep.

"She's not doing good," he said, close to her head so he wouldn't be overheard.

"How can you tell?"

"She's quiet."

Maria had only been handling them for half a year, but she was used to Ariel being vocal about her injuries. Every little cut and scrape was whined about. Except...The dislocated shoulder went unmentioned until they were at the safe house, as did the broken leg until they were out of danger, the skull fracture went unsaid until they were no longer under fire, and the electro torture didn't have a voice until they were on the transport out. Ariel had informed her team, but otherwise said nothing unless asked.

Ariel didn't like worrying her people.

They got out of the country. They found a safe place to wait for emergency evac.

"Hey, guys?" Ariel slurred, forcing herself to stay conscious through blood loss and pain. "When do the endorphins kick in?"

"When the Russian provides the vodka," Clint answered from his position next to the door.

Natasha muttered something at him in her mother tongue as she entered the room, bag in hand. Clint put a hand over his heart, calling her a cruel mistress. Natasha ignored him, crouching next to Sarah and Ariel. She pulled the high proof alcohol out of the grimy backpack she stole and poured it over Ariel's head wound.

The injured woman hissed and twitched. Every open wound got the same treatment. She didn't complain, and Natasha rewarded her with a shot. The others used the rest of the alcohol to either clean their own wounds or dull the pain.

"Stay with us," Maria told Ariel when her eyes started to droop.

"Why? You're all no fun."

"I'll have you know I'm a barrel of laughs," Clint replied, indignant.

"Air tight barrel holds it in, can't open it or it's all gone."

"And we've hit Angel Grove level of crazy," Sarah muttered. Louder, she said, "If you see a light at the end of a tunnel, don't go towards it, okay?"

Ariel's glassy eyes focused on nothing, just stared ahead at nothing. "The light at the end of your tunnel may be you."

"Where is she getting this from?" Coulson asked, not taking his eyes away from the window.

"Ooze got in our heads. Some things got taken out. Magic and machines and aliens and monsters and sometimes there was no running. Couldn't fight without powers. Just had to sit there and scream."

Natasha moved swiftly, divesting Ariel of every weapon she had on her. Ariel stiffened, but didn't fight back. The gear was distributed so nothing was left behind. Maria knelt next to Ariel's head and looked her in the eye. "Stop staring into the abyss, Malaya. Look at me."

"Have my own abyss. Don't want yours." But her eyes focused. "Shut up?"

"Not if it means you'll pass out. Just stop giving us an existential crisis."

"That was nothing. Could do worse."

"Don't."

"When do we go home?"

"When the chopper gets here."

"Don't suppose we could move closer to it?"

"Move your fingers and toes for me."

She did so, causing her boots to twitch.

"One to ten, ten being the worst thing you've ever felt, where are you?"

"Before or after the alcohol?"

"Malaya."

"Seven. Maybe eight."

"What hurts the worst?"

"Collar bone. Did I land on that?"

"Yes."

Ariel tracked the things she could see and kept her mouth shut. Her body was telling her to sleep, her mind was telling her to keep quiet. Fear ran through her, not because she was injured, but because of what she might reveal. She'd gotten too close to hinting that she wasn't just a random teenager in Angel Grove.

That wasn't a revelation she could ever make.

It was just before dawn when they heard the low thump of helicopters. They moved to the roof of the building. Ariel stayed conscious for as long as possible. She was pretty sure she made it as far as SHIELD before passing out.


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Holiday Season is hell on retail workers. We're still a long way from the movies appearing in this fic, in case you were wondering. But we're closer to the actual relationship forming.

The following months were frustrating for Ariel. Her injuries were just below life threatening, but healing from them was going to take some time. She'd never been so beat up before.

She got too used to seeing trouble coming, too used to getting out at the nick of time, too used to leftover instincts and lack of chaos. Time to fix that, it seemed.

Still, she listened to the doctors and didn't try to do anything her body wasn't ready for. Her old friends stopped by, one or two at a time, checking on her and helping her out. It was Trini and Zack that stayed the longest, having the most free time in their lives. Trini's patience got Ariel through the weeks between being too hurt to do anything and not quite healed enough. Zack knew how to slowly introduce her body to activity after that, and his good humor helped.

Her SHIELD teammates only met the Angel Grove crew in small moments, nothing to give anything away. Clint dragged Natasha over so the archer and injured party could introduce the assassin to Firefly. Adam had been visiting, and spent the entire time drooling over Inara.

"Your addiction to pretty, dangerous women is telling, friend," Ariel said as they ate dinner and watched the television.

"You're one to talk."

"It was one time!"

Clint raised an eyebrow. "Share?"

Adam shrugged. "Just fallout from living in Angel Grove. Every once in a while, the aliens sent a spy to look in the high schools for the Power Rangers." He smirked at Ariel. "She never wanted to help pretty new girls find their way around after that."

"I'm gonna stab you with my crutches," Ariel muttered, blushing.

Clint grinned. "Find her way around, huh?"

Adam nodded slowly, smirk not fading. "She took her time, too."

Ariel looked at Natasha, speaking in a language neither man knew. "Drug them, shave them bald?"

Natasha mused on it. "Permanent marker designs, too."

"I have a box of colors."

"When they least expect it, sure."

Adam shivered. "Why am I suddenly afraid?"

"Because neither of us speaks whatever the hell that was." Clint dug his shoulders deeper into the couch. "Great, now I have to watch my back in my own apartment."

"You brought it onto yourself," Natasha pointed out.

"Yeah yeah yeah."

Clint really didn't mind the vibrant purple mustache. It was the green unibrow he had a real problem with. 

\---

Ariel nudged Clint's tray with her's, and he scooted over so she could sit across from Natasha. "Please beat me up."

Clint outright laughed. Natasha was amused. "Bored already?"

"Hill's doing a sanity test, I know she is. If I don't do something physically exhausting, I'm gonna-"

"Ya know, there are ways outside sparring to get physically exhausted."

Ariel whacked Clint upside the head. "Unless you're offering, don't remind me that I'm not getting any."

"There are these places called bars."

"There are also things called bars, and I'm gonna hit you with one."

Natasha watched them go back and forth, a small smile on her lips. She knew Ariel was here after hearing about Strike Team Delta's last mission. Natasha wouldn't mind even some light violence. The comedy show was appreciated, too.

"When are you free from paperwork?" Natasha asked, cutting into the small battle.

"Five. I still can't get thoroughly thrashed, though."

"Aikido, then."

Ariel grinned. "Awesome."

~*~

Two months later

Ariel kept pace with Natasha through sheer will power. She blocked every blow and took every hit she couldn't avoid. She landed jabs and elbows and knees and moved into the throws and holds Natasha tried to get her into, using momentum and proximity to her advantage. Five years of fighting aliens with no discernible fighting style roared to the forefront of her mind, even as her heart threatened to choke her.

Natasha was drugged. Natasha was injured. Those were the only reasons Ariel was still alive.

"Down."

Hawkeye's voice in her ear sent adrenaline and relief flooding into her system. She bent and twined herself around Natasha's legs. Before the assassin could move to retaliate, she froze. Ariel looked up, watching her pull a dart from her neck. She crumpled and Ariel managed to at least save her head and neck from hitting the concrete.

Ariel lay there, gasping for air.

She didn't hear her team run up. She couldn't acknowledge them in any way. All she could see was the arena Gasket sent her and Tommy to after brainwashing them. All she could hear was the dying noises of aliens who had no choice.

All she could do was feel the same horror of using her powers to destroy those who were just as enslaved as her.

Sarah cursed after a minute of Ariel responding to nothing. "She's in shock."

"Did Widow hit any pressure points?" Kyle asked as Coulson halted the stolen van at the mouth of the alley.

"No clue," Charlie said. "Hawkeye?"

"Not that I could see. Gimme thirty seconds, sir."

"Acknowledged," the handler said as he approached. "Santos, help me with Widow. You two get Malaya."

Both fighters had to be carried into the back seats of the van. Barton dealt with his partner while Sarah started in on getting Ariel out of shock.

\---

For two weeks, only Phil and Clint ever saw Natasha. Fury saw her long enough for a debrief, but wasn't surprised when she dropped from the radar. The Director knew the assassin was still in contact with her partner and handler. If she had actually disappeared, Clint would be AWOL either with her or trying to find her. Phil would actually be worried.

As for the Strike team...Well, Maria knew this was going to be one of those missions that no one talked about. Natasha might have escaped medical to recover in Phil's guest room, but Ariel was stuck for a week. None of her injuries were life threatening, but her body was severely exhausted. The other three had taken watches until she was coherent.

No one else outside the mission knew Natasha had been triggered by a phrase she thought wouldn't function without regular conditioning. Her mistake meant Fury was going to run her through a few more deprogramming sessions. Natasha wanted it. She did NOT want to be under any control but her own.

\---

The knock on the door was almost too quiet to be noticed. Trini answered it, smiling at the redhead but also watching her curiously.

"Oh, I didn't know Ariel had company."

Trini saw the plastic bag in her hand. "Anyone who can find her beer in this city is welcome."

Natasha was a little caught off guard by the low calm of the younger woman's voice. She didn't know Ariel knew calm people. "If I'm not intruding..."

Trini held up her keys. "I'm grabbing dinner for us, anyway. You're welcome to join us." Trini had placed the only redhead in Ariel's life, and after hearing of her from Kim, she agreed that there was something different about her.

"I'm not so sure that's true."

"Well, you know her well enough to go out of your way for Primo. If you're here when I get back, well, we can't let you go without some food."

Natasha decided this wasn't a battle she was going to win. "Okay." And maybe she didn't want to win.

Trini let her in as she left. Natasha stepped almost carefully towards the couch. She hadn't spoken to Ariel since their fight in Greece. Hell, only Clint and Phil knew she was still in the city. Well, and Fury.

When Ariel spotted her, she brightened instantly. "Natasha!" She got up and took the six pack of beer to the fridge. "Right about now I wish you were a hugging type."

Natasha raised an eyebrow. "Why?"

"I was worried, dumb ass. It's good to see you."

"Oh." She had almost killed her, and it was as if it was no big deal.

"If you're not sick of the question, how are you?"

"Better. That...It shouldn't happen again."

Ariel shrugged. "I'm still waiting for fall out from Angel Grove. Not the same, but still."

Natasha sat at the kitchen table when Ariel waved her at it. "Your friend invited me to eat with you, but if you're rather I didn't..."

The brunette reached up to grabbed glasses for water. "Natasha, you're welcome here. One bad night isn't going to change that."

She glared. "It wasn't just a bad night."

Ariel turned to lean her hands on the table. "You aren't the first of my friends to have their brains fucked with."

Natasha held her gaze, and saw the same steady truth from their first sparring match. Not afraid, not cocky. Just certain. She nodded. Ariel turned back to the ice cube tray on the counter.

"Last year, you said I'd never succeed in killing you."

Ariel sat down across from her and rolled up her shirt sleeve, revealing a rarely seen bite scar on the inside of her bicep. "I spent five years living in a city attacked by monsters. I learned to fight so I wouldn't end up with some kind of alien weapon in my back as I ran away." She looked Natasha in the eye. "You are one of the deadliest people I know. But, Natasha, you're only human. And it wasn't your fault."

The conviction, the sincerity, it made Natasha pause. It was so, so very easy to forget Natasha wasn't the worst Ariel had seen. Natasha was so much better than other agents, could compete and defeat a lot of them at their specialties. She wouldn't be alive if she wasn't the best as what she had to do. No matter what it was that needed doing. She was rarely, if ever, reminded that there was something out there that was just plain -more- than she was. Something smarter, deadlier. Something already experienced.

And...and she was only human. For all the ways she was different, she wasn't anyone, anything, that couldn't be recreated. Her knowledge and skills weren't unattainable. Unique within SHIELD, but not the Red Room. Her mind and body were as fallible as any other. It just took a bit more to knock her down. 

She was just as mortal. Just as flawed. For some reason, at that moment, it was a relief.

Natasha refocused on Ariel. "Thank you."

She stayed for dinner. And spoke Cantonese with Trini since Ariel had no idea what they were saying.


	8. Chapter 8

Ariel hissed Natasha's name. The assassin turned her head and raised her eyebrow at the aborted, frantic motions coming from the Asian. When she joined her at the railing of the balcony, she deftly took the drink in Ariel's hand.

Didn't even noticed. Definitely drunk.

"Left corner of the bar," Ariel said, not looking in that direction. "Is it just me or is your partner putting the moves on my handler?"

Natasha glanced that way as she leaned back against the railing. Ariel quickly whirled to copy her. "Yes."

Ariel clapped a hand over her mouth in an attempt to muffle her laughter. Natasha wasn't sure why, as the club was far too loud and busy for the other two agents to overhear. Then Ariel went still.

Natasha nudged her.

Ariel shook herself. "Sorry, alcohol and over active imagination. God -damn-, that's gonna be some really hot sex."

"Jealous?"

"A little, yeah."

Natasha huffed out a laugh. "Do we need to find you company for the night?"

"Nah, I would've grabbed someone by now if I was here for sex."

Natasha shook her head, looking over her shoulder. "They're leaving. Together."

"Are you sober enough to keep me from texting them?"

Natasha held out her hand and Ariel forked over her cell. Natasha instantly starting tapping out a text.

"What?! Bitch! Don't you-"

Natasha dodged the attempts to grab the phone, then showed her the sent message.

It was just a half drunk message to Kim. The gymnast would ignore it after a laugh.

Ariel whacked her arm and leaned back against the railing. "Ass."

Natasha smirked. "Teach you to trust an assassin."

Ariel snorted. "Trust the assassin just fine. It's everyone else who thinks they're being honest."

Said assassin raised an eyebrow. Ariel raised her hand, realized it was empty, and looked around for her drink. Natasha chugged it down. Ariel pouted, shrugged, and said, "You can always trust a dishonest man to be dishonest. Honestly. It's the honest ones you want to watch out for, because you can never predict when they're going to do something incredibly... stupid."

Natasha tilted her head a little. "Clint made me watch that movie. How drunk are you?"

"Drunk enough to think about texting inappropriate things to my handler, but coherent enough to ask you to take the phone. Why?"

She shrugged. "Just making sure I don't have to supervise."

Ariel waved her off. "I'm not gonna go totally nuts."

"You tried to take something away from me."

"I can behave. I just don't have to at the moment."

"Then lets go get some food."

Ariel followed her out and into the late summer night. They didn't feel bad about leaving Kyle alone between his choices for the night's entertainment. Getting a cab to Natasha's chosen destination wasn't hard, and soon they were settled in the back corner of a small Mexican place.

Ariel had calmed down and they spoke about various small holes they'd eaten in on missions. Life in a strike team like Ariel's didn't really allow for those lulls between mission and extraction. They were usually boots down, pounding, and up all with definite time frames in place. Only every once in a while did timing or weather make them hole up or hang out for a few hours.

Natasha knew she didn't have to see Ariel to her door. But the other woman was listing and had hit a happy daze of drunkenness. It was kind of nice being around someone who wasn't a maudlin drunk. Clint and Phil had their reasons, and only when they drank heavily. Ariel told horrible jokes and complained about nothing. Her mind did sharp turns in topic, making Natasha wonder just how her mind worked.

"One day, I'm gonna replace the chocolate covered raisins in Hill's desk with licorice jelly beans, but I haven't found a good texture substitute." She looked across the street at the only lit up window in a building. "Sonder is the realization that each random passerby is living a life as vivid and complex as you own, and to them, you may be nothing more than a single lit window in the night."

Natasha had never heard of the word or idea, but she had no reason to doubt Ariel. She wasn't sure if she liked the concept, or if she wanted to contemplate it right now. But it was already gone from Ariel's mind.

"Hey, if you don't wanna bother with another cab, I've been told my guest bed is awesome."

"I'll think about it," Natasha said as Ariel unlocked the front door to the building.

Natasha ended up taking the guest room. She'd never done it before, here. At Clint's, all the time, and him with her. The bed was comfortable. She slid her handgun under the pillow and fell into a light sleep.

~*~

"No really, how is this my life?" Ariel muttered as she ducked behind a crumbling concrete road barrier.

"Your curiosity got the best of you," Hill replied over the comms.

"You made it seem so intriguing. You did not mention the danger."

"My arm was in a sling. Intrigue gets the normal people."

"Define normal."

"Can we not get existential in the middle of a fire fight?" Santos demanded.

Ariel huffed. "Fine, I'll wait for the flight back. Grenade, north corner of Disha and Seit." No one objected, so she tossed the artillery at the small hoard of gunmen. They dropped and Ariel ran forward to make sure they wouldn't get up.

"RPG!" Jones shouted moments before the explosion rocked the side street.

"Banister! What the hell is on the other side of this dead end?" Hill demanded.

"Some trees and Konda street. North of that is Sierra Hotel 5-4."

"Let's move!"

Strike Teams Nine and Delta started running for the end of the street. Barton had grabbed a few landmines out of the enemy's weapon cache and dropped them in the stretch of trees as they passed through them. Ariel and Natasha hot-wired a pair of cars to get the group to the end of the second street faster. From there, they had to cross a field and steal more cars.

They didn't stop until they were well into the next city.

Ariel sighed. "Jones, that better not be another hole in your arm."

He slid down the wall when Sarah stalked toward him with her med kit. "It's a talent, ma'am."

Clint pulled the bottle of water away from his lips with a pop. "I don't think chicks dig -that- many scars."

Kyle chuckled, then groaned when his wound was hit with disinfectant.

"Anyone else?" Hill asked as she ended communication with SHIELD.

Ariel and Natasha both raised their bloody hands. Clint zeroed in on his partner while Phil grabbed a handful of supplies from Sarah's kit. Ariel sat in the chair Maria kicked at her and let her handler examined the glass in her side.

"If you didn't have a fucking rib cage," Maria said as she yanked a shard out of Ariel's flesh. The piece was long and sharp. Angled differently, and it could've reached her heart.

"Beat that Romanoff," Ariel called across the room.

"Don't tempt her," Coulson warned.

"I'm going to need stitches before extraction," the assassin said.

Maria cut Ariel off before she could speak. "I'm not making your stitches closer together so you have more."

Ariel made an unhappy noise. Everyone reveled in the quiet, keeping an ear out for trouble. Banister had the only window covered, and Barton joined him when Natasha was set. The trio of injured were piled in a corner of the room for easy covering. Ariel didn't noticed she had leaned her head on Natasha's shoulder until the assassin shrugged lightly. "Stay awake," she murmured.

Ariel nodded once and started taking a visual stock of supplies. It was always good to know what was available, even if she had superiors around to handle that. Never knew what could happen.

There were two field stretchers in the extraction vehicle. Natasha and Ariel claimed them. Natasha feigned sleep. Ariel passed out.

~*~

Ariel flipped up from the mats and caught the water bottle tossed at her. "Barring an emergency, girl's night at my place. Hill, Carter, Santos, O'Neill."

Natasha thought about if over their breather. Carter was a known quantity, so that was okay. O'Neill she only knew was another Strike agent. Ariel had chosen her to take the second in command spot she left behind. That meant something important, if she was trusting the woman with her people. "I'll let you know before tomorrow night."

Ariel nodded. "Pot luck, but it can be anything as long as it's enough to go around."

"And taking your appetite into account."

Ariel sniffed. "I have a high metabolism."

"Sure. That's what's high."

Ariel tackled her. Or, she tried. It didn't actually work out that way.

~

"Hey, Barton, you want in on crashing the girl's night our teammates are having?" Jones asked at the range.

He barked out a laugh. "Oh, fuck no. I plan on being off the island when that group gets together."

Banister rolled his eyes. "They aren't that bad."

"Yeah, you just haven't been paying attention." Barton cleaned up his stall. "Have fun. I'll keep the jokes clean at your funeral."

"You're all heart," muttered one of O'Neill's teammates.

Clint left. And if he warned Natasha, well, he was the one who'd hear about it from her if the guys did have the guts to go through the crash.

-

After making sure the guys heard the party was being moved to Sharon's place due to Ariel's cousin deciding to take up a room, they met at the original apartment. Natasha had a feeling a little too much thought had been put into tricking their teammates, but maybe it was just because they worked for a spy organization. 

There was food, alcohol, various card and board games, and the weirdest mix of background music Natasha had ever experienced. Everyone had brought over a music player of some sort and for an hour, their music would play on shuffle before it was switched out. They were a level of loud not usually associated with them outside of combat. Threats were made, objects were thrown with deadly accuracy, and they drank a little too much for being on call for emergencies. 

Natasha found herself usually next to Ariel. It wasn't a conscious decision on her part, just something she did on instinct. She passed it off as a comfort thing, since she was most familiar with her. Oh, she could and did spend time with Maria, but if Natasha wasn't with Clint, chances were she was with Ariel. 

Until this moment, Natasha didn't realize just how deep of a friendship she had with Ariel.

Huh.

The bedding was already set up in advanced, given they would probably be drinking enough to not risk driving home for the night. A king air mattress, the couch was folded out, and the guest room was freshened. Sam and Sarah passed out on opposite ends of the air mattress. Sharon took the couch, and Maria collapsed in the guest room on her way back from the bathroom. Natasha had to help Ariel to her room, since she was too busy giggling to keep her knees in working order. After a jaw cracking yawn, Natasha grabbed a second comforter off the trunk at the foot of the bed and got on the other side of the bed. It'd be no different from one time in Belfast. Hell, the bed was actually big enough for them.

Ariel woke up when something tapped at her temple. She flinched away and frowned, muttering that she was awake.

"Then maybe you could stop the squid imitation." The voice was quiet but not tired.

Ariel cracked an eye open. Natasha was giving her an amused look from four inches away. "Whoops." She released the assassin. "I'm a heat leech. You know this."

"You usually don't try to absorb your victims."

"I'm home. I have this foolish concept of being safe here. No need to move towards the weapons quickly."

Natasha gave her that, even if it wasn't a belief shared as equally. "I haven't heard anyone leave."

"Sarah won't move until noon if allowed. Sam will only wake up for food."

"You sound like you want to go back to sleep."

Ariel shook her head. "Awake now, sleep won't happen again. Parents trained me to get up and not think about going back to sleep." She frowned. "Usually by dropping a pet on my stomach."

"Well, it if worked..."

"I had a twenty pound cat as a kid." She glared at Natasha's grin. "Then my brother got a fucking Saint Bernard when we were teenagers. Rat bastard of a dog would sit at my door and hope my parents would throw a treat on my bed." 

Natasha was shaking just a little with suppressed laughter. Ariel sounded so annoyed. The brunette kicked at Natasha's feet. "Shut up."

"I've seen your collection of home videos. I'll have to start stealing them to see this."

"You'll have to wade through days of Girl Scout activities and little brother's sports games."

"That just means it exists."

"And I was gonna feed you breakfast. Now I'm not."

Natasha shrugged one shoulder. "You'll have to turn your back on the refrigerator at some point."

Before Ariel could reply, there was a ring of the doorbell. Groans echoed through the apartment as Ariel rolled to her feet, grabbing her side arm. She wasn't expecting anyone and the guys would deserve a barrel at their faces. It wasn't even seven yet. Natasha covered her, though she moved just as casually. After all, trouble usually didn't ring the doorbell.

Ariel let out a string of curses after checking the peep hole and throwing the locks and door open. "What the hell are you doing here? How the hell did you even get here?"

Natasha watched a younger, darker, slighter version of Ariel step into the apartment with a large backpack on her shoulders. "Got into a fight with the parental units. Isha bought me a plane ticket."

"I'm gonna whack her the next time we're in the same state. Go make coffee." She pointed at the kitchen with her gun. The teenager eyed it before dropping her backpack against the wall and doing as she was told.

"Your family is crazy," Sarah groaned from the air mattress.

"Implying she's not?" Sam muttered.

"Whoa, lesbian orgy," Nik said, catching sight of all the woman.

Ariel reached over the kitchen island and whacked her upside the head. "I'm pissed at you, don't push your luck."

"But I can stay?"

"For a week. Then I'm sending your ass home."

"Ari-"

"No. Shut up. Coffee."

Natasha held out her hand for the side arm and went to return it to bedside table. Maria was sitting up in the guest room, still in a daze. Upon seeing Natasha raising an eyebrow at her, she got up and moved to the fold out bed. Natasha and Ariel took the love seat.

"Everyone, my brat of a cousin, Nikki Malaya. Nik, you don't have the clearance level to know who these people are."

In the kitchen, the teenager rolled her eyes and muttered, "Whatever." But she was putting mugs on a tray, along with sugar, milk, and cream. There was a clank of spoons, then rummaging in the fridge. "Geez, you're so predictable."

"When hung over you are with me, glad you too shall be."

A cabinet was opened and bowls removed. A massive fruit salad was brought to the coffee table and the bowls handed out. 

"It looks almost too pretty to touch," Sharon mumbled from where she was still curled up against the back of the couch.

"Fuck that, I'm hungry," Maria said. She used the wooden spoon to scoop fruit pieces into her bowl before huddling back under a blanket to eat. 

Nikki snickered. "So if I ran over there and opened the curtain-"

"Riddled with bullets," Sarah interrupted.

The tray of coffee supplies was brought over, mugs full of steaming nectar. They slowly doctored their cups, and Nikki started to clean up the mess of food and empty alcohol bottles. Breakfast passed in relative silence. Sam raised an eyebrow when Nikki brought the coffee carafe over for refills. "My visiting family are never this helpful."

The teenager snorted. "I gotta earn my keep."

"Damn straight," Ariel muttered into her bowl. 

"You know you love me."

"Love. That's it. Sure."

"And you're too pretty for prison."

"I'll cut a bitch."

Natasha glanced at Ariel. "You don't have a license to kill, but I do."

"No fair," Sharon grumbled. "I still haven't gotten mine."

Natasha shrugged. "Mine's not from around here."

Nikki looked around the room and decided she didn't want to know. It was considered a wise move on her part.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy New Year.


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> My transitions between scenes suck. I know this.
> 
> I stole S.S.S.S.S. from Sinfest.

Strike Team Delta didn't always work together. Sometimes only Clint's skills were needed, and Natasha went solo on occasion. Most of the time, their missions were successful, with no one any the wiser of Black Widow or Hawkeye. Then there were the ops that went to hell.

Natasha paced Phil's office like a caged wild tiger. Her arm was in a sling, trying to throb apart at the break. Her head wound hadn't even started to scab over. She was in no shape to go after Clint. But no one else could be trusted-

Phil walked into his office and stopped beside her path. "Hill is taking Strike Nine out to his last known coordinates now."

Natasha was surprised when her shoulders relaxed. Phil motioned to a chair and got her a bottle of water. She sat and sipped. Neither of them left the office until Clint was back at HQ.

'

Clint regained consciousness as quietly as he could. His head swam and throbbed. His ribs ached, there was a sharp pain shooting up his leg, and the tell tale pin prick annoyance of a needle hole in his left shoulder. 

The thud of a blunt object on the meat of a body, followed by a feminine groan he couldn't place instantly, made his eyes open. On the other side of the concrete room, Malaya was strung up in tee and cargo fatigues, an overly muscled man circling her.

"Y'all suck at this," she taunted, her voice dull and achey.

"I'm waiting for Barton to hear your screams," another man said, sitting on a metal folding chair almost out of Clint range of sight. He didn't want to tilt his head up to get a better look. So far, no one knew he was conscious.

Ariel snorted slightly, head leaning against one of her arms. She had a massive black eye and blood stained her face at various points. "You think he won't lie? You think we believe you'll be nice if we cooperate? Jesus fuck, we -murder- people like you for a living."

"Oh, he may stay quiet if you're in regular pain. But rape? I think that's a threat that'll make him talk."

She threw her head back and laughed. It was almost hysterical, and Clint had seen her pale a little at the threat. Muscle man sucker punched her. "Oh, God.... There's nothing you can do to my body that hasn't already been done to my mind. In fact..." She grinned, manic and feral. "Big boy, lift up the back of my shirt and show your boss what you find."

Muscles looked at the other man for permission, and obviously got it. He yanked the back of her black t-shirt up and stared for a moment. Clint couldn't see what was on her back, but it was obviously a surprise. Muscles snapped out of his stupor and yanked Ariel around, showing his boss, but not Clint. 

The man stood and approached, curiosity on his face. Clint didn't recognize him, but that didn't mean much. There were always people trying to make a name for themselves, on both sides of the line. He certainly couldn't judge the man on that aspect.

"What the hell..."

"Boys, I've seen monsters," her tone was almost conversational. "I've been tortured. You'll make me hurt, you'll make me bleed." Her whole body went taught, and her voice was as hard as it was cold. "But you can't make me scream."

She moved. Her legs swung up a she broke away from Muscles and her feet went up and over her head. She flipped, landing on the shoulders of the boss. Twist of her hips and his neck was broken. His body dropped while Muscles swung at her. Her body curled out of the way as she brought her legs up again. As the punch missed and Muscles lurched forward, she wrapped her legs around his neck from the side and squeezed. He pounded at her legs and tried dropping his weight to the floor. She grunted on the yank on her arms, but didn't let go. Her hips did a little dance that traveled down her legs and his neck broke. 

His body hitting the floor was the only sound for a long moment.

"Ow."

"You 'kay, M'laya?" Clint didn't like his slurred speech one bit. His mind was sharp enough.

"No." Her pain was evident now.

"'Scue?"

"No."

He made a disgruntled noise. "N'asha?"

"Got 'er arm broke and a concussion on her op." Ariel started to move, her hands inching up the chain, pulling herself up. When she reached the hook, she grabbed it with one hand and moved her chain off with the other. An unhappy noise stuck in her throat before she dropped. Her legs crumbled and she sprawled.

She didn't move.

"Laya."

"Wait," she groaned, grumpy and agonized.

He gave her a whole minute, which was what she gave herself. She pushed herself up on shaking arms and then got to her feet after a couple false starts. She had to drag her chains to a table for the keys, and after freeing herself, she unlocked his manacles.

Clint knew the drug in his system had obviously not cleared out when he tried to move. Like his lips and tongue, his body was slow to respond. Not good. He didn't want to lean on Ariel, so he got his adrenaline going by thinking about all the various consequences if they didn't move -now-.

There were guns on the men, and they took the keys as well. The room was one of three on the floor. There were no other guards, and no intel to gather on who had grabbed them. They found their gear in one of the other two rooms and loaded up. Ariel checked her comm, upping the volume so he could listen. "Malaya, three four tango and oh, god, I haven't eaten mangoes in forever and a day."

Her comm crackled to life. "Oh thank fuck." Hill sounded more relieved than he'd ever heard her. "Where the hell are you?"

"With me," Clint answered, thankful his voice was steadying.

"Jones, inform HQ that Barton's alive. Location, we can't get a lock on your signal."

"We're still in the building," Ariel reported. "Give us five to get outside."

"Be careful."

They didn't have to worry, as they were in the basement of an abandoned building. There was no one on the ground level, and no other floors. They slipped out the back of the building, and Hill started triangulating Ariel's comm. The duo moved out, wanting to find better cover and get away from the hell hole before someone decided to check on interrogation.

'

Phil picked up the phone on his desk before the first ring could complete. "Coulson. ...Thank you." He hung up and looked at Natasha. "Clint's alive and mobile."

She nodded once, carefully letting out the sigh of relief. She knew she'd lose her partner one day. That was just their fate. She just didn't think she'd ever be ready for it this time around.

'

With Clint in surgery for his broken leg, Natasha found Ariel recovering from broken ribs and torn arm muscles. The rest of Strike Nine hadn't left, all three uninjured members ignoring paperwork with varying degrees of success. They looked up at her entrance, but didn't seem the least bit surprised to see her. They were usually the team sent after Delta, and were just as likely to check on her after missions. Ariel was woozy from pain killers, but she grinned at Natasha. "Box a'sharpies for 'is cast?"

It hit Natasha suddenly and all at once. She cared for Ariel. She cared for Ariel -a lot-. When she heard the initial report, that Ariel had been tortured, her blood had boiled. There was rage for Clint, but not fear. She knew he'd find a way out, he always did. But when Ariel went missing from her team...The fear made her blood run cold. It wasn't for Ariel's safety, or what she might suffer. It was because Natasha didn't know what lengths Ariel would go to for survival. This was the woman who went after monsters, who had an inexplicable scar on her back, and looked the Black Widow in the eye without fear. 

Natasha allowed a corner of her lips to twitch up at Ariel's words. "Definitely." She looked them each in the eye before landing back on Ariel. "Thank you."

Sarah waved her off. "Anytime, Romanoff."

~

"It's open!"

Phil shook his head and entered the apartment, being sure to lock the door behind him. He took in the scene before him and wondered how this became his life. 

Clint was stretched out on the couch bed that hadn't been folded up in a week, broken leg propped out and a water bottle resting against his hip. Natasha was lounging on the love seat across the room from Clint, a book propped up on her bent legs. Ariel was sprawled on a king sized air mattress that also hadn't been moved in a week, surrounded by rolls of black and orange yarn. 

The moment Phil set the pizza boxes on the table, there was a flurry of movement. When he came back with a couple six packs of beer and soda from the fridge, the trio had settled with a mix of slices in their own box, with a variety for him in the last box. They snagged beverages as well before feasting in near silence.

The communal living had come about when Ariel and Clint were released from medical at the same time. The rest of Strike Nine had demanded they all stay in one place for better guarding, since Delta had been targeted for a reason. Shepard had taken the entirety of his Unit to hunt down the idiots who decided Hawkeye and Black Widow made good targets. Nine had taken rotating shifts guarding the injured trio, with Phil and Maria also taking part. The trio called them saps and protested here and there about being able to care for themselves, but neither Clint nor Natasha had left Ariel's apartment. Phil wasn't sure how they ended up at Ariel's, but he suspected it was due to a lack of bedding at Clint's and Natasha not wanting people at her place.

At six o'clock, Natasha turned on the television. Ariel groaned about life not being fair, and warned Phil to hide all weapons. Both men looked at her in confusion, before focusing on the show that was starting.

"New York City... 8 million people... 5 million pets... 15 animal cruelty agents with full police powers... Welcome, to the Animal Precinct."

An hour later, and with utter calm, Clint said, "I'm full of rage."

"Science, Natasha, science," Ariel urged, breathing with relief when the channel switched over to Mythbusters.

At the first commercial, Phil was in a bit of awe. "I have a horrible feeling I know the cause of half the R&D explosions."

After that, clean up and bed time routines started with the evening dose of pain killers. Natasha and Ariel were sharing the air mattress, with a stiff body pillow between them. Natasha and Clint needed to keep eyes on each other, but Ariel was having nightmares. The ideal set up was all three of them in the same room, but the air mattress wouldn't fit in the bedroom. Phil slept in the guest room with the door open. 

'

Fending for themselves for the few hours everyone was working was a comedy of errors. Clint could barely stand, and his arms were occupied by crutches. Natasha was down an arm, and Ariel had to use her own sparsely. Breakfast was usually made by whoever spent the night with them. Lunch was whatever was simplest. Dinner could be cooked, or brought home by whoever was babysitting them for the night. 

The first two days was spent filling hours with mission reports. After that, it was movies, working out what muscles groups they could, and catching up on recreational reading. Natasha would occasionally check SHEILD's computers for updates on Shepard's hunt. They didn't always take their pain killers, but they choked down the antibiotics. 

'

Sarah had brought them a shit ton of fruit the night before because they were Ariel's comfort food. So for lunch, Natasha and Ariel sliced and peeled while Clint was in the bath. Ariel was sticking to slicing the squishy fruit and holding down the stiffer stuff while Natasha sliced. It was a tricky situation but they had a good system down. 

Ariel finished up her banana slices and grinned. "Hey, Natasha, think fast."

The assassin whirled around, eyes already narrowed. She grabbed the first banana slice out of the air, but the second came at her too close on the tail of the first and got her square in the face. Ariel started snickering at the look on the Natasha's face.

Natasha took a moment to retaliate. When she did, she smeared the squished banana in her hand all over Ariel's face. Not to be outdone or intimidated, Ariel just turned her face to lick Natasha's hand. The other woman grimaced and pulled away, then picked the slice off her face. "Why?"

"The look on your face when you're honestly surprised. It's awesome."

Natasha ate the slice and rinsed off her hand. "I knew you were going to do something."

"Is that a challenge? Do I have to get this on film?"

Natasha pointed her knife at Ariel. "Don't you dare."

She was grinning. "Too late, already thinking about it." She stood with the cutting board and went to the big bowl. "Unless you admit that you were surprised."

"Never."

Ariel flicked a cold piece of kiwi at Natasha. It hit her chin since she was focusing on picking grapes. Natasha pelted her with a few grapes. Ariel raised her cutting board like a shield and charged with chunks of mango in hand. Natasha dodged and snagged the board away, but Ariel didn't let go. She reached for Natasha, mango oozing between her fingers.

Natasha leaned out of the way, locking her elbow to keep the board between them. "You are -not- serious."

Ariel just laughed and let go of the board, sliding into Natasha's space. Using the board, Natasha blocked the mango hand and pinned Ariel against the counter with a body check.

"You're ridiculous," Natasha said, trying to hide her amusement.

She grinned. "At least you don't say it like it's a bad thing."

"It's not." 

Ariel had a sudden urged to do the insane. Her heart rate rocketed and her brain shorted out. Going through with this could end everything. 

Well, she'd made worse decisions. 

Before Natasha suspected any of her thoughts, Ariel tilted her head and kissed her. 

Natasha's thoughts passed at lightening speed. This wasn't what she was expecting. This wasn't...bad? In fact...It felt good. She was surprised, sure, but her first instinct wasn't to pull away. She responded, pressing closer to the touch of Ariel's lips. 

"Ooookay, I'm both curious and terrified."

"Gonna break your partner's other leg," Ariel murmured, having only pulled back an inch.

"Your own guest law says you can't."

"Should I recover at Maria's?" Clint asked.

"No strenuous activity for another two weeks," Ariel replied automatically.

"Ditto."

Natasha kissed Ariel to shut her up. She liked the way Ariel didn't resist, the way her body relaxed and allowed Natasha to press closer. 

Clint shuffled away.

Eventually, they remembered the cutting board and handful of mushed mango. Ariel raised her hand, smirking. Natasha raised an eyebrow, unimpressed. Ariel giggled, a sound rarely heard in favor of snickering, and started to eat the fruit herself. Natasha put the board down and took a step back. 

"Soooo I have feelings?" Ariel offered, blushing hard enough to show on her tanned face.

Natasha grinned a little. "I noticed. I can't say I object to them."

She smirked. "I noticed."

"Oh, God, you two are horrible!" Clint called from his couch.

"Her guest law says she can't maim you, but nothing's stopping me."

"Definitely bunking with Maria from now on," he muttered.

"Do you honestly think we're the type of people to go from zero to sixty in an hour?" Ariel asked.

"Do you think I wanna third wheel it if I don't have to?"

Ariel made to argue again, but Natasha was back in her space and kissing her. It wasn't deep, just the same press of lips as before. The silence was broken by the archer. "You're kissing again, aren't you?"

The fruit salad took a little bit longer to get done. As much as they didn't want to kick Clint out of the apartment, they did want to talk without having to avoid or include his commentary. Besides, he probably did want to spend time with Maria. While not public, it was known among the group that Clint and Maria were together. 

Nothing changed right away between the assassin and soldier, much to Clint's relief. They didn't sit any closer together, or spend their entire time next to each other kissing. He knew they were waiting for him to leave, which was why he asked Maria to bring them a better than usual dinner with the promise that he'd repay her in money and intel. He shuffled around the apartment, picking up the things he had strewn about in the past two weeks. 

Clint was hopeful for his best friend. Ariel and Natasha were good friends themselves, and he knew Natasha spent a lot of time here as it was. Hell, he was with her some of those times. And when both teams were in the city together, Ariel usually orchestrated some kind of hanging out. Something about laughter making their jobs worth the trouble. 

He found himself liking the idea of Natasha and Ariel together. They already knew how to work together and put aside the emotions. Hell, Natasha had tried to kill Ariel, and Ariel had wanted to make sure Natasha was okay. After Clint, Natasha checked Ariel second. Ariel had been one of the first people not introduced to Natasha to treat her as if there was nothing unusual about reforming Soviet assassins. Natasha thought Ariel's habit of giving her weapons without firing pins was exasperating, not irritating.

They pranked him, cooked for each other, and were part of the Super Secret Sisterhood of Scary Shit. He wasn't supposed to know about that last one. It didn't matter, Ariel and Natasha would be good together. He just didn't see it before because they were already friends.

He left with Maria, leaving half the food with Natasha and Ariel. He'd tell Maria what happened once they were at her place. She'd love it.

-

They ate dinner and watched Crocodile Hunter. Ariel didn't attack Natasha with anymore food. They were sitting closer than usual together. Ariel was still animated and Natasha a bit more reserved. 

Ariel made a move for another kiss, before Natasha could wipe sauce off her lips. The spy called her ridiculous before instigating her own kiss. Natasha felt something in her chest relax at seeing Ariel so happy with Natasha starting a kiss. 

They still shared a bed, because they were used to it after a week and still wanted to be in the same room when they were injured. The overstuffed body pillow was still between them, because whatever this was, wasn't physical. Yet. 

Natasha made a simple breakfast and went to wake Ariel up. She stood on the brunette's side of the bed, looking at the scar peeking out from the bottom of her sleep shirt. It was a thin line that she knew from Ariel's file went from hip to shoulder, a vicious 'x' shape she refused to explain. Even under hypnosis, Ariel wouldn't reveal what happened. It was assumed to be an Angel Grove incident that was just too traumatizing to remember.

She shook Ariel's hand by her finger, sending the ripple up her arm. It was the sign for out of field, non-combat wake up. Squeezing wrist or ankle was warning to a dangerous situation. Ariel groaned and curled her arms around her pillow, burying her face.

"You don't like cold eggs," Natasha reminded.

Another groan, then the slow sit up. The muscle relaxers were and weren't Ariel's favorite. On the one hand, she could sleep through a nuclear bomb. On the other, she hated waking up. Ariel glared at nothing in particular once she sat on the edge of the bed. She got to her feet and followed Natasha to the kitchen. Food and coffee made her human, and she did the dishes while listening to Natasha read everything Maria and Clint had text them overnight.

"We're going to have to do something awful to them," Ariel commented after the last one.

"Agreed. Do you have Maria's drawer combination?"

"If I don't, I will."

"Good. We'll just replace all her chocolate raisins with Harry Potter jelly beans coated in chocolate."

Ariel's maniacal laughter made Natasha stand up and kiss her. Ariel took it a step further and put her hands on Natasha's hips. The assassin decided her hands felt good there, warm and sure, if a little damp. She returned the gesture and could feel Ariel's excitement in the change of pressure in the kiss, in the way her hands spasmed.

It'd never been this subtle with Clint.

Ariel couldn't help the stupid smile when Natasha pulled back. It just felt good to be able to do something as simple as kiss. It'd been a while for her. She went back to the few remaining dishes while Natasha texted insults back to the other couple.

After they settled on the couch with books, Natasha let the quiet silence seep into them before marking her place and closing her book. She reached across the couch with her feet and nudged Ariel. The other woman slipped her bookmark in place and looked up. Natasha wondered how Ariel could still manage to be so open and truthful with her expressions. But perhaps that was her coping mechanism, to still be sincere when she had every reason to hide. 

"I should tell you this is a bad idea." Natasha didn't have to say what she was talking about. "The skeletons in my closets, the ones I can recall, aren't all dead. But you know this. You've experienced how much worse things can get around me. And yet here we are."

Ariel turned to face her, sticking her cold toes under Natasha's. "And you don't know half of my secrets. You'd probably think mine are cake walks compared to yours."

"You did live in a city filled with monster attacks. And you never talk about that unless you're under some kind of influence." Natasha wiggled her toes to create friction before her toes got cold, too. "I have a feeling things happened to you that no one outside the city would understand."

Ariel looked away, her face guilty. "Remember when Adam told you and Clint about Scorpina? And how I latched onto the pretty new girl that turned out to be a monster? They don't know I did it on purpose." She shook her head. "I saw Scorpina talking to Rita, saw her change into Sabrina. Everything I did with her, I did knowing what she was and that I'd probably end up dead. But I figured, better someone who knows, than someone who wasn't prepared for the worst."

Natasha was all too familiar with seducing the dangerous target. It was her job. To think Ariel did it at fifteen, with no training or back-up, made her feel a little light headed. "No one knows?" 

Ariel shook her head. "No one. At the time, I didn't want them in danger. After, I didn't want the lecture in idiocy. Now...it doesn't matter."

"How long?"

"A week. What they thought was my excitement at having someone interested in me, was really terror and excitement at knowing such a huge, risky secret. They thought I just wanted to keep her to myself for a bit before I brought her into the group."

"You were keeping her away from them. And "showing her around?"

Ariel blushed and hugged her knees. "Adam wasn't entirely wrong."

Natasha raised an eyebrow. "You made out with an alien scorpion monster?"

"Distracted her, didn't it? And she wasn't the one cutting them short, soooo..."

Natasha made a face. "I'm not too sure how I feel about that information."

"Don't think too hard on it. I try not to." She wiggled her toes. "And does it really compare to hanging out under a flying saucer and taunting the crazy bitch leading the invasion by killing her minions?"

"Point."

~

They spent another week together. Ariel slowly increased the physical contact. Natasha slowly deepened the kisses. Ariel shared other misadventures from Angel Grove, not all of them monster related. Natasha did have a few hilariously embarrassing moments in her career before SHEILD. Ariel swore herself to secrecy, even if Natasha didn't share anything that could really be used against her. 

Natasha eventually wanted to get back to her own place. Ariel decided she liked the idea of only having herself to look after. Neither got cute with the texting or phone calling, though Ariel still continued her sharing of bad puns. Clint started an emoticon war between the two teams. It had to be put down by the handlers. Ariel and Natasha spent a week apart before meeting up outside HQ and going for lunch. No one suspected anything of a relationship between them, since they were friends. Natasha was relieved it would stay between their friends for now. Ariel understood the need to keep personal things secret. 

She just wished she could tell Natasha how much she understood. 

Ariel knew the question would come. The scar on her back would be brought up. If this went anywhere meaningful with Natasha, Ariel refused to lie. The truth would probably end the deeper relationship, but...she didn't think Natasha would sever their friendship. Natasha prided herself on being able to read people, suss out their secrets before they thought she could even look. But Ariel's secret identity as a Power Ranger was nothing Natasha could learn except by word of mouth.

Ariel didn't plan on their relationship lasting any longer than a few months. She knew such a secret wouldn't sit well with the assassin. So Ariel planned on making the best of it. She'd show Natasha an amazing time. She'd be everything she could for her. She would take what she could get and remember it all fondly. It was selfish, and probably cruel to Natasha, but...Ariel gave so much for Earth and it's people. She continued to do so. If she wanted to feel happy, and make someone feel just as happy, well, it was the one thing she'd take for herself. 

Because if she couldn't have this, after all she'd done, what was the point of doing it?


	10. Revelations

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Aloha from Hawaii. Ye gods vacations are awesome.
> 
> This is where the sex happens. I've not good with the writing of porn. If'n you don't want to read the sex, I've marked it with #. Use your little find word bit twice to skip it.
> 
> And I totes stole Eric. 
> 
> Only part of this is beta'd.

Natasha's thoughts didn't drift toward Ariel in unguarded moments. She rarely had moments when her mind could wander, anyway. She wasn't someone to dwell like that. Nothing between them changed at SHIELD. 

But she did revel in the way Ariel fell asleep against her back. She liked finding small treats in her coat pockets, because Ariel's mother always sent too much food. She would roll her eyes at how Ariel would promise anything when Natasha played with her hair, but it was something she never knew Ariel enjoyed. 

Natasha knew her past would strike at them. She knew something would scare Ariel off. Nothing had scared Clint off, they just...let their sexual relationship fade away. Clint was her best friend, her first true friend. Ariel never questioned that, either. She was completely respectful of the fact Natasha sometimes sought Clint out first. Natasha had no idea what she did to deserve two friends like this, but she would fight to keep them. Even if she might loose one.

For now, however, there was a woman cooking her dinner and asking if she wanted to team up against Adam and Rocky, who were going to visit in the next week. The two friends had their own documentary series about learning different martial arts from around the world.

"Sure. Phil knows a place we can use."

"I'm not surprised, I'm really not."

Natasha had a thought. "Ariel, is this how you're going to tell your friends about us?"

A cackle was her only reply. Well, okay then.  
~  
Ariel looked up from her video game when she heard a key in the door. There were a number of people who had access to her place. A huge security risk, but paperwork never followed her home and she picked up a few tricks in high school. She picked a throwing knife out of the couch, but slid it away when Natasha entered. Natasha wasn't someone she -gave- a key to, but she didn't care that she had one. Her four teammates had "stolen" keys from her over the years.

Natasha went straight to her fridge and dug out the triple chocolate chunk ice cream and sat in the corner of the couch. There were a couple of bandages, but she was otherwise sharp eyed and mobile. Ariel took the spoonful of ice cream when offered.

"Still can't believe soy tastes so good," Natasha muttered.

In perfect Mandarin, Ariel said, "Like most Asians, I'm lactose intolerant."

Natasha rolled her eyes and took another bite.

Ariel finished her level and saved, before switching over to the DVD player and settling in the opposite corner. She knew to give Natasha space unless the assassin closed the distance. "The boys okay?"

She nodded. "Clint's spending the night in medical. Phil didn't even stop in his office, he just went home."

Ariel raised an eyebrow. "The hell you two do to him?"

Natasha shrugged. "Not sure. It was just a few explosions. I don't think the trains will run through Budapest for a while, though."

Ariel snorted. "You want proper food?" Tactical Nine had been on stand down due to Sarah and Kyle's injuries on their last mission.

Natasha shook her head. "I'm fine with this."

Ariel leaned over and opened her mouth. Natasha fed her a bite and she sat back, watching Blue Planet for a bit. Natasha eventually relaxed, an hour and a carton of ice cream later. By then, they were sitting next to each other and Ariel was getting more frequent bites. 

When Ariel moved to change over the DVD, Natasha got up to put the ice cream away. When Ariel stood and turned around, Natasha was right there. The kiss wasn't completely unexpected, but the intensity of it blew Ariel away. She grabbed Natasha's hips out of need for a grounding, but the redhead's arms went around her. Ariel felt warmth shoot through her, and pulled away to breathe. "N'tasha?"

Her eyes were blown, and she was watching Ariel's lips. She kissed her again, deepening the kiss and Ariel somehow managed to keep the moan buried in her chest. God damn. She wasn't going to survive another one of those.

Then Natasha's fingers itched under her shirt and slid over the scar. Ariel froze and squeezed Natasha's hips just short of painful. "Natasha."

She stopped what she was doing and focused on Ariel.

"Not after a mission, not the first time. Every time after, I'll be more than willing." 

Natasha's eyes fell closed and she leaned her forehead against Ariel's. "You're right."

She wrapped her arms around her. "We'll set up the couch, watch some whales, and if you still want to in the morning, we will."

Natasha nodded, their noses brushing. "Thank you."

"Hey, I'm being completely selfish." She smirked when Natasha look up at her. "I don't want you crashing on adrenaline. I want you passing out because I was that damn good."

That got a chuckle and a brief kiss. As Natasha headed for the closet with the blankets, she said, "You seem so certain I'll be the one passing out."

"I do believe that's a challenge, Gary," she stage whispered to her longest living cactus.

Natasha chuckled again.  
'  
They slept through the night. No nightmares, no making out. Natasha didn't wake up in the mood to take their relationship to a more physical level. Ariel kissed her and made her breakfast. Natasha might've felt something in her chest tighten.  
~  
A week later, Ariel was about to vibrate off the motorcycle. Natasha pulled her helmet off after they parked. "Next time, we plug you into the engine and let your excitement power us across town."

"You've never met Rocky. He's worse than Clint."

Natasha raised an eyebrow. "In what why?"

"Every joke, done to death, about everything."

Natasha might've groaned a little. They headed up the freight elevator and looked around the open floor, covered in mats and lined with mirrors and windows and equipment. A gym that was open half the week and reservable on the other half. Natasha made sure they would have it for three hours, in case lessons came into play after the fight.

They checked the mats and marked out a large area with jump ropes. The hid a few weapons about, just in case of uninvited guests. A few minutes into their stretches, Adam and Rocky showed up. 

Natasha knew the Korean man relatively well, enough to know he wouldn't make an attempt to hurt her unless she made the first move. Rocky was of Mexican descent with gleaming eyes that missed nothing. He was the more muscular of the two, and even more hyper than Ariel. He caught the tackling hug and spun her around before setting her down and toying with her braid. "If this gets any longer, you'll be able to wipe your ass with it."

She called him crude and whipped her head around, snatching the hair from his hand. She made the introductions and they stretched in earnest. 

"Rules?" Adam asked as they walked around the ring.

"No face shoots, keep head strikes light, no groins. "Yield" is the word, and don't use it to trick. First team to get pinned loses."

Rocky nodded. "Works for me."

Natasha hit the play button on the sound system remote. Rocky whooped and charged. 

Adam had a feeling he should've have heeded Kim's warning. Natasha was good. Natasha was scary. Ariel had only improved since Angel Grove. Rocky, of course, didn't seem to care, but he did his research hands on. And while they knew how to attack at the same time, the girls knew how to get behind them.

What's worse, they were holding back.

Adam hated that. 

He pushed Ariel into a defensive role, raising an eyebrow when she passed up the chance to retaliate. She smirked and slid into his space and knocked him on his ass. Rocky came to his rescue before she could pin him, but Natasha was right behind his best friend. It became a task of getting the girls off each other before a pin could happen. 

Rocky laughed as he danced out of Natasha's range. That set her off, and he was suddenly on the floor. 

"Ow."

Natasha stood and offered a hand up. He took it and backed off, now far more wary than he had been. He hadn't seen her move at him.

"This isn't a fighting technique," Adam complained from the other side of the ring.

Ariel was on his back, hands over his eyes. He was trying to pry her off, but she just laughed. Until he dropped and slammed her lightly between him and the mat. She kicked him off before he could turn it into a pin. 

The quartet circled, partners across from each other. 

"Flip 'em?" Ariel asked, nodding to Rocky.

Natasha nodded. 

"Squish?" Rocky asked.

"Squash," Adam agreed.

They started moving all at once. Natasha and Ariel rushed Rocky. Rocky and Adam went straight for Ariel, who they knew they could beat. Rocky turned to block Natasha, knowing Adam would managed Ariel for a second. But she leapt over him and landed behind Adam. Ariel was sweeping Adam's legs out, but he was lifting his legs out of the way. Natasha knocked him to the ground, and Ariel surged up to knock Rocky back as Natasha pinned Adam.

"It's a good thing I'm used to losing to chicks," Rocky said as he headed for the mini fridge. 

Ariel chuckled. "Not girls, just me."

"Kim warned us this was gonna hurt," Adam said, checking for bruises. "She didn't tell us it'd hurt this much."

Natasha sent Ariel a look. She didn't like to be discussed. Ariel shook her head minutely, mouthing, "later." Natasha rolled her shoulders and accepted it for now.

Rocky tossed water bottles around and turned down the music a little. "We're getting old when the music gets turned down and not up."

"We just like our hearing intact," Adam replied, stretching out. The other three followed suit, discussing the fight and various techniques. 

Natasha appreciated the technical knowledge Adam and Rocky shared. She could see the spiritual side to their art in their eyes, in the way they were willing to teach. It was refreshing to get a bit of that, not just the joints and muscles of a move. 

After an energy bar, they got to the examples and basics of different arts. Natasha watched how Ariel interacted with the two men, saw how much she trusted them and the sincerity in all their eyes. She didn't quite understand how their friendship was still so solid when they rarely saw each other, and went months without speaking. But the exchange was equal, and that made her a bit more willing to share a handful of her own techniques. 

Ariel didn't push Natasha into revealing their relationship, though she had teased and threatened to do so. She knew how Natasha liked her secrets. That was okay. So she stuck with extreme familiarity, knowing the guys would ask if they picked up on it. 

"Showers and lunch?" Adam asked near the end of their session.

Rocky ran for the showers. "FOOOOOD!"

Ariel snorted. "Some things never change." Her stomach roared. "And on that note..." She headed for the showers. "Natasha, please don't kill Adam just because he knows more Kung Fu than you."

"Your name isn't Coulson, I don't have to listen to you."

"I'm adding that the challenge list, under passing out."

Natasha raised an eyebrow, doubtful, but Ariel just gave her the bird and disappeared into the girl's locker room. The assassin shook her head, not quite hiding her smile. 

Adam pointed at her. "Winner chooses lunch and losers pay. Don't argue, it's how we do things."

Natasha decided she could think of a decent place, and didn't argue. In the lockers, Ariel was showering with her back to the wall, as usual. Even if Natasha knew of the scar, she hadn't actually seen it outside the one picture medical had in her file. Technically, Natasha wasn't supposed to have seen that. The edges of the scar wrapped a few inches over Ariel's shoulders and around her waist. It was mostly discoloration, not damaged skin. That in and of itself was odd. 

Natasha wondered if she'd ever be able to ask.  
'  
Lunch was amusement for Adam and Natasha. Watching Rocky and Ariel have a mini eating contest was hilarious. They turned into ten year olds, and probably would've started a food fight if they weren't in public. As it was, Ariel had ketchup in her hair and Rocky would be brushing crouton crumbs out of his hair for a few hours. 

"I'm paying for me and Natasha," Adam told Rocky. "You can pay for the mess you two made."

Rocky shrugged and Ariel blew a raspberry at him. She leaned back in the booth and rested her head on Natasha's shoulder. Natasha didn't think about her action, it just happened. She turned her head and placed a small, brief kiss on Ariel's head. She smiled and returned the gesture on her jaw line.

Rocky made a face. "I haven't seen anything that cute since Aisha was covered in baby cheetahs."

Adam snorted. "Keepin' it classy, Rock."

"I'm not the one trending towards a type."

"Shut up, Rocky, or I'll shut you up," Ariel muttered, blushing.

"Sabrina," he started to list, "this ninja," he pointed at Adam, "and that one dude you beat down for access to his dick." He waved at them. "And now a chick who can kick our asses all at once."

"I told her about Sabrina," Adam said.

"Who's the third one?" Natasha asked, frowning.

"Before you showed up, I rode Eric Nordmann for six months."

Now Natasha was a hint impressed. "How did you manage that?" She knew Nordmann was a Slavic beast of a man who won every fight he got into. She -liked- sparring with him. Hell, she'd taken him up on a few of his offers for naked sparring. The man really was a sex god.

"I pinned him." She was pleased. "Sprained an ankle doing it, too."

Adam raised his hand. "Change of topic, please? As secure as I am in my masculinity, I really don't wanna hear either of you talk about dicks. Or sex."

Rocky ruffled his friend's hair. "He's just afraid he'll enjoy it, and Tanya's performing tonight."

Adam glared. "I'll make you pay for all the food, monkey butt."

"You're friends are weird," Natasha told Ariel.

"Your bestie puts chocolate syrup on his oatmeal."

Everyone around the table made a face.

#

That night, ice cream was on the menu for dinner since lunch and been big and they worked their assess off all morning. Natasha was muttering about everything History Channel was getting wrong about Russia. Ariel didn't speak enough Russian to understand most of her grumbles, but what she did catch made her laugh. Every time Ariel moved to change the channel, Natasha would snatch the remote away. 

"You're a paranoid international grade spy. Shouldn't you be happy they don't know the whole truth?"

"There's being ignorant because you were never told, and idiotic because you never learned to the point of understanding." 

"People barely understand their own country, and you want them to get another?"

She waved at the screen. "Half these 'experts' have never been to Россия!"

"And now she's mixing languages," Ariel muttered to herself. "Thank God there's no Animal Cops tonight."

Later, once the program was over and they were calm, Natasha held the spoon of ice cream in front of Ariel's mouth. When Ariel moved to accept the bite, Natasha inched the spoon away. Ariel pouted, but leaned in again. Natasha slowly pulled the spoon back towards her. Ariel smiled, mouth still open. Natasha leaned in and kissed the side of her mouth. Ariel turned and kissed her back. 

Natasha slipped the ice cream to the table and deepened the kiss. Ariel's breath hitched. Natasha's hand curled around Ariel's neck, holding her close and still. Ariel's hand followed Natasha's arm and down her body to her waist. Natasha couldn't help moving into the touch the entire time. 

Ariel broke the kiss and took a deep breath. "Natasha?"

She locked eyes with her and kissed her again, sliding her free hand up the outside of Ariel's thigh and to her hip. Ariel shifted again, then pulled Natasha closer. Natasha scratched her nails into Ariel's scalp and felt Ariel shiver. Ariel's hands were on her hips, thumbs inching back and forth on the crease between hip and thigh. Natasha bit Ariel's bottom lip. "Tease."

"Only if I don't deliver."

Natasha moved her hand from thigh to ass, pulling Ariel against her. Ariel gasped, then slid her hands over Natasha's ass and squeezed. Natasha could feel the heat radiating off Ariel. But she knew that if she called it off, Ariel would sit back and demand more ice cream. She'd probably spend a few extra minutes in the shower, but she wouldn't push Natasha. It was a comfort in the back of her mind.

Which was why she tilted Ariel's head back and started marking her neck. Nothing that would last more than a few hours, just enough to lay her claim. Ariel moved her hands from ass to the back of her thighs, wrapping around and just...out...of...reach.

Natasha pushed her down and straddled her hips, hands planting on her shoulders. Ariel's eyes were blown, lips swollen, her body flushed, and her hands were squeezing Natasha's legs rhythmically. Natasha ground down, pulling a moan from the arching woman. She smirked, pleased, and bent over to kiss her. Ariel's hands started to wander over her back, scratching and egging her on. Natasha slid lower and nipped at Ariel's breasts through her shirt. Ariel whimpered and bowed her back, offering more of herself. 

Natasha yanked and tugged until Ariel was out of her shirt and bra. Dark brown nipples were hard and pebbled, and Ariel flushed down her torso. Natasha tasted her skin, sucking hard and sudden. Ariel twitched closer and moaned. Teeth grazed and hips rolled. 

Ariel slid her hands under Natasha's shirt and unhooked her bra. She pulled both garments off and started to cup and squeeze the revealed tits. Natasha enjoyed the appreciation showed her body for a moment. The moment was all Ariel needed to regain some of her senses. She bent her knees, shifting one out from between Natasha's legs while grinding a thigh hard against Natasha's apex. The redhead gasped and Ariel pushed herself up to suck at the full, heavy tits in front of her. Natasha yanked her into a kiss. Ariel curled her fingers, pinching their nipples at the same time, the very tips touching.

Natasha groaned and ground down, hands tightening on Ariel. The Asian grinned and used both hands on them, watching Natasha's eyes fall close. She rolled her hips, grinding up against Natasha. She kissed Natasha's lips, her jaw, ear lobe. Her mouth hovered just above the spot behind her ear, teasing, before landing on her pulse point. 

Natasha pushed her down again, grinding her leg hard into Ariel. The younger woman's hips snapped up, moan bouncing off the walls. Natasha kept up the pressure, reaching down as she bent over. Her lips distracted Ariel's, one hand tormented her tits, and the last got into her pants. 

Ariel was soaked. Natasha groaned and thumbed her clit. That got a small cry and hands on Natasha's ass, pulling her closer. The redhead kept the circles tight and soft. 

"N'tasha...ohfuck...Nnnn'tasha-a-a-aaaaa!" Her body thrashed as she came.

Natasha eased her down, feeling the shudders and shivers against her skin. Ariel twitched here and there, sinking into the couch. The red head couldn't help it. She had to say it. "One step closer to making you pass out."

"Oh, you just didn't." Her voice was creaky and rough.

Natasha hummed a small laugh. "And I didn't even have to get your pants off."

Ariel's eyes snapped open. "Okay. That's it. Bed. Now." She sat up, shoving Natasha off her. "If you don't scream by the time I'm done, I'll do whatever you want for a week."

Natasha got to her feet and headed for the bedroom. "And if I do scream?"

"I'll just walk around, smug about my level of awesome."

Natasha made sure to strut down the hall. It had the desired affect. 

"Trouble, Ariel," the woman muttered to herself. "You always find trouble." She started after Natasha. "At least orgasms are involved this time."

Natasha lay back on the bed and let Ariel peel her jeans off. She knelt there, between her feet, just admiring the view for a moment. Natasha inched her legs wider, and Ariel ran the tips of her fingers up the insider of her thighs. Natasha shivered, opening wider in anticipation. Ariel licked her own lips, then locked eyes with her.

Ariel's thumbs spread Natasha open as she lowered her head, eyes still locked. Her tongue flicked out, taking a small taste, barely touching.

"Stop teasing," Natasha ordered.

Ariel smirked. It was the only warning the red head got. She dived in, hard and fast, licking Natasha deep. The assassin groaned an raised her hips. Ariel braced her forearms on Natasha's thighs, keeping her open and down. One hand tangled in her hair, pulling. Ariel groaned, feeling Natasha buck at the vibration. 

Ariel shifted position, one arm over Natasha hips and the other coming down, a finger taking the place of her tongue. She was oh so careful with Natasha's clit, testing her sensitivity.

"More," she groaned, heels digging into her back. 

Ariel gave her more of everything; weight on her hips, fingers in her cunt, pressure on her clit. Natasha's drawn out moan made Ariel's core throb. Ariel didn't speed up or increase her pressure, drawing out the building up until Natasha was writhing.

"Ariel..."

She hummed into her clit. Natasha tried to abort her tiny cry. Encouraged, Ariel hummed more. 

Natasha felt her body crest, finally. The full throb from head to toe made her shudder with aftershocks. Warmth sank into her bones and she sank into the bed. She throbbed around Ariel's curled fingers and twitched.

Ariel sat up, pleased. She'd take the loud groan of relief as success, but she wouldn't tell Natasha that. Instead, she lay down next to her, sucking her fingers clean before curling herself around one of Natasha's splayed arms. She slid her legs closer, wanting the touch she was getting used to. 

Natasha caught her breath and reached for the edge of the sheet before rolling to her side. She dragged Ariel closer, smiling at the happy look on her face. She knew Ariel was far more tactile than herself. Ariel closed her eyes, settling in for sleep. Natasha watched her. The relaxation of muscles, the deepening of breath. The fact that Ariel trusted her enough to sleep in her presence, knowing everything she did of Natasha. 

Natasha curled closer. For as long as she could have this, she would take it. 

#

Over the next three weeks, there were ops and rescues and extractions. Delta went where the cluster was already fucked, and Nine went where hopes were it could be prevented. And whenever Natasha and Ariel could spend a night together, they did. Sometimes there was sex, sometimes there was just a dead sleep of exhaustion. If there was time for breakfast, it was shared. Otherwise there was a quick kiss and a good luck. 

Then came the night the scar couldn't be ignored any longer. 

Ariel didn't have nightmares of her high school days often. She had far more recent events to jolt her out of sleep. But they'd been near a fucking volcano on their latest op. She didn't think she had an actual trigger for Muranthias. It was years ago, and she'd been in scorching situations since.

No matter. She still woke up screaming in phantom pain, Natasha shaking her almost violently.

"Ariel!"

She scrambled out of the bed and away from the heat of Natasha's body. She shed her clothes as she went to the bathroom and made the shower ice cold. Her stomach voided itself in the tub as she got under the spray. Natasha was on her heels, ignoring the freezing water to kneel just half an inch away from her. 

Natasha watched Ariel, confused and worried. The massive scar Ariel wore was bright red. She'd been screaming in real pain and fear, almost sobbing. The way she had stiffened...It was if something had grabbed her.

The implication made her shudder from something other than cold.

The cold on Ariel's back chased the phantom fire away. The images behind her eye lids faded away. Her shivers went from fear to cold. Her stomach settled, and she tilted her head back for water. 

Natasha turned off the water and pat her dry. They sat on the bed, Natasha holding a glass of water while Ariel drank out of it. The scar was back to being dull, healed skin. Ariel wiped at the tears threatening to fall. This was it. This was where the truth came out. She couldn't ask Natasha to bare this secret. 

She kissed Natasha, lingering and sweetly. After a whispered thank-you, she got up and dug out the security safe at the back of her closet. Hidden in the bottom of a small case was a coin she promised to show no one, ever. Her fist tightened around it.

Telling Natasha would change everything. Not telling her would cause a rift. She didn't want the rift. But...

"If I tell you, everything changes."

"If you don't, it'll change in a different way." It wasn't a warning tone, just a resigned one.

Ariel brought her fist out and closed the safe, stuffing it back behind everything again. She lay down, bringing Natasha down with her. If this was going to be their last close moment, she wanted to revel in Natasha's presence while it lasted.

And she promised to never care about anyone as much as she did about Adam ever again. Oh, well.

"When I was eighteen, a few days before graduating high school, the space pirate Divatox arrived and stole a visiting alien's wife and child along with two of my friends. She trapped the visiting alien and held him separated from his family. She needed him to open a portal to a pocket dimension, his wife and child to make him do it, and the other two for a sacrifice."

Natasha kept silent, even as her mind formulated questions and horrible, terrible answers. 

"I went after my friends, along with my team. There was no way we were going to let Divatox get away with anything. But we were too slow, too late. Our friends were sacrificed to the volcano demon Maligore. He rose, bringing our friends with him. He controlled them, forcing them to attack us."

Ariel curled up a little tighter, but kept her eyes on Natasha's. "We knocked one of them out, allowing Lerigot and Lara to heal his mind. The other I had to pin down while the rest of the team kept the Piranhatrons away. Her mind was healed, but not before Maligore got to us."

Natasha felt bile rise in her throat.

"He grabbed me. Even with my powers, it burned. If my friends hadn't reacted so quickly..." She heaved a deep breath. "Lerigot and Lara healed me. My powers wouldn't have been able to handle the damage. Their magic made sure it was just a stain on my skin."

She opened her hand over Natasha's, dropping the coin. "And there's no lie I can tell SHIELD that they'll believe."

Natasha held the heavy gold coin between her fingers. A wicked velociraptor was poised, ready to leap from the metal and attack. Though she was never in Angel Grove, she knew the basics as well as anyone alive during the attacks. Velociraptor was the symbol of the Purple Ranger, at the beginning of the attacks. But Divatox didn't show up for years after- "You were fourteen."

Ariel shrugged. "When an alien mage asks you to protect the planet, you can only tell him to shove it until the bad guys start swinging at you."

Natasha stared at Ariel, pieces falling into better positions. Ariel's ability to fight her, the willingness to do so. The calm under fire, improvisation when things go to hell. Her sense for liars and dangerous situations. 

Ability to look at Natasha see a human, not a monster. 

:You aren't the first of my friends to have their brains fucked with. You're only human.:

Natasha searched her face. "You can't tell anyone."

"Our identities as Power Rangers will always be a secret. Not even our parents know." The pain in her eyes was worse, for a moment. Her relationship with her parents was strong, so it must have suffered, back then.

Natasha squeezed the coin between their palms. "I won't tell even Clint."

A spark of amusement flit over her face. "If you did, Kim could challenge him to an archery contest."

Natasha blinked. Kind, fierce, definition of bubbly, Kimberly Hart. Olympic medalist, world renowned gymnastic coach. "That's why you're still so close with them. That's the reason they cross continents and oceans to see you whenever you get hurt."

"Kim still feels guilty, no matter how drunk we get about it. But, yeah..." She gave Natasha a tumultuous smile. "I was a teenage superhero."

Natasha slipped a lock of hair behind Ariel's ear. "And you never stopped saving people."

"If you do something well..."

"Make them pay you for it."

That got a startled laugh out of her. Natasha smiled, then moved the coin to the headboard. Ariel tangled their fingers together. "I can't ask you-"

"You're not. I'm offering." Natasha kissed her. "I tried to kill you and you told me to sit down, shut up, and eat."

"Natasha-"

She raised an eyebrow. "Do you want me to leave?"

Ariel's voice was horse and quiet. "No. Never." 

Something in Natasha filled and ached. "Then stop pushing me away."

Ariel still looked a hint unsure, but nodded and cuddled closer. "Natasha."

It was in the way she sighed the word, the weight and hope of it. The assassin got the message loud and clear.

"Ariel."  
~  
Natasha had to deal with the revelation, but she didn't have to do it in front of Ariel. She respected the secret Ariel had to keep, understood and would never hold it against her. Ariel told her in the morning that there was nothing left after the war. No technology, no powers, no contact with former allies. Ariel was sad about the last one. 

"I joined SHIELD because I don't know who I'd be if I wasn't fighting for something. Which is a little sad, but this is a good fight."

Natasha did a bit of looking into the Power Rangers, expanding her knowledge a little more. When she came upon the Ivan Ooze disaster, she remembered Ariel's ramblings when she was suffering from a severe head wound.

"Ooze got in our heads. Some things got taken out. Just had to sit there and scream."

Natasha frowned and researched a bit more into it. The Power Rangers had disappeared, hadn't been seen since the last fight before Ivan Ooze showed up. When they did arrive to deal with him, it was with new costumes and machines. Modern animals instead of myths and dinosaurs. Some speculated it was an entirely different team. 

Natasha thought Ariel had a "regular" childhood. Decent family, normal schooling, some martial arts. Nothing close to running around with a secret identity as a super hero fighting monsters every week for years. 

Natasha knew that if a new alien threat showed up, Ariel would be back on those front lines, no hesitation. 

Ariel wasn't a child trained assassin. She wasn't brainwashed or a murderer. But she was different. There was a part of her the world, her friends, could never see. She was always holding back some part of her that knew and experienced more. In that way, they understood each other.

It was a hell of a secret to bear. But Natasha felt closer to her for it.  
~  
Ariel would admit to worrying for a little bit. SHIELD wanted to know who the Power Rangers were, and they weren't the only ones. Natasha could easily get away with an anonymous tip filled with connections and coincidences that wouldn't be ignored. But she didn't. Natasha kept her secret.

Ariel wasn't too sure how she'd ever repay her.


	11. Emotionally Compromised

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry guys, I've got no internet at my house, so I'm Starbucks slumming. And then I had to back up everything and only now got around to putting this fic back on my laptop...Laziness. Basic laziness kept me from posting. And My beta's busy with school, soon if any of you want in on the job....

"They've come for us every fucking time! Why can't we-"

"Because we don't know if they're alive!"

The three other occupants in the room froze. Fury took a deep breath and stood from his chair at the head of the table. "The building blew up, and an EMP fried the entire port. We've received no contact. A mission cannot be authorized due to the state of emergency in that and every country bordering it."

Clint headed for the door. "Fine. Then don't authorize it."

"Barton! If you walk out of this building without orders, I can't let you walk back in."

Before her partner could get himself thrown in the brig for swinging a fist at a superior, Natasha slid two sets of paperwork onto the table. Clint stalked over to read one over Phil's shoulder. His smirk was vicious.

Phil sent Nick a look. If they didn't agree to this, they'd loose Delta. It was quite possible they'd loose half of Tac Nine as well, if they were told they were left for dead. The last thing SHIELD needed was a group of rogue agents with too many fucking resources running around. They wouldn't cause direct trouble, but anarchy would be left in their wake.

However, it would be guaranteed that every human trafficking ring in the world would be shut down in two or three years. 

"You're right," Fury said. "You both are emotionally compromised. Leave of absence approved."

The two assassins headed for the door. Nick didn't have to tell them to be ghosts. He didn't have to warn them of the consequences. They already knew.  
'  
"Maria, I need you to stay with us." Ariel checked her pulse and looked over her shoulder. "SARAH!"

"Here!" The needles and tubing were slapped into the outstretched hand. "Do you know what you're doing?"

"Unfortunately." Ariel set up the IV and started the blood transfusion. "Thank gods for being a universal donor. Maria! Eyes open!"

"Didn't know you cared."

"Oh, shut up. Kyle, drive fucking faster!"

"I'm gonna achieve lift I drive any faster."

"Good, maybe we'll get to a hospital faster."

"You know we can't trust anyone," Charlie said.

"Then a veterinary clinic. Anything. Maria, talk to me."

Their handler cracked an eye open. "You're not this naive, Ariel."

"No, but I'm hopelessly hopeful that everything turns out okay and we all live happily ever after."

"Learned that in Angel Grove?" Maria licked her lips, adding a layer of red to them.

"That, and an insane amount of selfishness."

Maria frowned, confused.

"It goes like this: You die, Clint goes into a downward spiral because that dude will -not- handle loss well. Natasha will do anything and everything to save him. I haven't had even six months with her, I won't handle loosing two people in a row all that well, either."

Maria sighed. "Guilt trip."

"Is it working?"

Maria opened her other eye, for all the good it did her, with the a blown blood vessel. "I'm not that easy to kill."

Ariel didn't look down at the bloody shirts keeping Maria's organs in her body. "Live. See the universe. Eat pie." 

Sarah helped Maria drink some water, then murmured to Ariel, "You can't keep that up for too long."

"No, but hopefully long enough to make a difference."

It took almost an hour, but they found a wildlife hospital in the middle of nowhere. Kyle talked the veterinarians into operating on Maria, trading every bit of local currency they had, as well the chores that would've been done while they worked on her. Ariel stayed in the room with Maria, while the other three dealt with animal shit. 

Maria was under local anesthetic, and Ariel was pretty sure their handler was going to break Ariel's fingers. That was fine, as long as she lived. 

It took two hours. The others asked for other things to do. Kyle gathered firewood. No attempt was made to contact SHIELD, not with the way communications were being monitored in the country. Sarah watched the news and reported updates. Charles cleaned their gear, unloading the stolen car of everything they wouldn't need. 

When Maria was done, they continued on. In a small town, Ariel used a library computer to send a message to Natasha. It was a tactic the assassin got her into the habit of doing. They set up local email accounts in whatever country the other would be in, to allow for under the radar contact in case of this exact situation. Phil and Maria didn't comment, since it was a good idea, even if SHIELD couldn't officially condone it.

Ariel wouldn't expect an immediate reply. She sent a quick update what what had gone wrong and where they were headed. Natasha would tell SHIELD, if she checked it. Or maybe everything the five of them had learned would be put to the test. Escaping hostile territory without any kind of support, with a severely injured teammate and Ariel was feeling rather anemic. She pretty much fell into the seat next to Maria's head.

"You gave me too much blood."

"I gave you enough to live."

They continued driving.  
'  
Natasha checked her email the moment it dinged. She swore. "We have coordinates."

Clint stuffed his laptop away and zipped up their bags. "Where to?"

She rattled them off, causing Clint to curse as well. It was thousands of miles away, on the other side of the country.

Clint ran a hand through his hair. He grimaced, then grinned. "Hey, Nat, ever steal a helicopter?"  
'  
They had abandoned the car five miles from the point Ariel sent to Natasha. Maria was carried by the guys in the makeshift litter they made. Sarah kept an arm around Ariel as they hiked through the woods. No one spoke, the adrenaline not as strong so far from the possibility of gunfire. Exhaustion would start to creep in, but not until they crossed the stream.

Charlie and Kyle kept Maria out of the knee deep water. Ariel started to shiver once they were out on the other side. They took a ten minute break, Ariel trying to use the last of the sunlight to dry off. They boiled some river water and drank it warm. 

"Mile and a half," Kyle said as he stood. "Let's get there before dark."

Their arms shook as they lifted the litter. Ariel's legs almost gave out on her first step. But they steadied and moved forward. Dark had settled when the stolen GPS beeped. Coordinates found, they collapsed. They would stay put for twenty four hours. After that, they could hit the city eight miles north and steal another form of transportation. Once they were clear of any kind possible hostiles, they would contact SHIELD.

Hopefully rescue would reach them sooner. Neither of their leaders looked good. Sarah made Ariel lay down next to Maria, and wrapped them under the same emergency blanket, covering them with dead leaves for more insulation and to hide the shine of the blanket. The other three set a perimeter and watch, also wrapped in blankets. 

The temperature dropped ten degrees. Ariel pulled the blanket over their heads, leaving a small space for fresh air. 

The low thump thump thump of helicopter blades woke the sleeping. They couldn't tell where it was coming from until it was on top of them, dark and unlit.

A purple glow stick hit the ground, followed by a red one. They lowered their weapons as the copter landed. Clint helped Charlie get Maria's litter in, and Natasha took some of Ariel's weight off Sarah. 

Kyle pulled a headset on while Sarah used the new medical supplies to give blood transfusions. No one was going to ask where the bags of blood came from. "Where's Coulson and your uniforms?"

"We're LOA for emotional stress," Clint answered with a dark grin.

Kyle's eyes widened. "Oh. Okay. Thanks."

Clint nodded, getting the helicopter back in the air.  
~  
Kat checked the length one more time before brushing out the head of hair in front of her. She grabbed a hand towel and fluffed it up a bit, then squeezed Ariel's shoulders. "That should do it." She grinned. "You look cute."

Ariel wiggled out of Kat's grip and brushed hair off her. "I'm not cute! I am the night!"

"You're cute!" called a voice down the hall.

"Silence! I kill you!" 

"Get your ass out here!"

Ariel sent Kat a questioning look. The blonde rolled her eyes and pushed the Asian out the door. Kat knew Ariel's confidence was usually high, but when it came to people she didn't want to lose, she could be unsure. Ariel blew a raspberry at her before heading for the kitchen.

Natasha moved away from the stove and flicked at the shortened strands. "Much better than fire burnt and knife hacked." She smirked. "Still cute."

Ariel lunged but was caught by the back of her shirt by Kat. "No fighting in an active kitchen."

Ariel reached out, waving her hands at Natasha, just out of reach. Natasha shook her head, smiling, "Ridiculous."

"I am the night!"

Kat hauled Ariel back a step. "Behave, will you?"

Ariel sat at the table. "It's my house, why do I have to behave?"

"Because you've dealt with enough fires recently, right?" Jason asked as he entered. "We're gonna drink all your beer, by the way. Hair look's cute."

"I'll cut you." She waved him off. "Just bring more next time you visit."

He stole a kiss from his wife before heading back to the fire escape. Kat called for them to save room for real food. Clint and Maria were out there with Jason, talking makeshift weapons and improvised explosives. 

"Need any help?" Ariel asked.

Natasha shook her head. "I'm at the stir until cooked through stage."

Kat helped Ariel get the plates and utensils ready. The trio on the fire escape came in soon after, and Clint ruffled Ariel's ear length hair. "Cute."

She tried to bite him as he pulled away. "Am not."

Maria leaned against the fridge. "You're lucky you had it in a braid."

"Yeah." She blew at strands over her face. "I can add five more minutes of sleep in the morning, now."

Natasha served up the food and everyone settled around the television and Mythbusters. The cook was complimented multiple times, and Ariel was made fun of whenever fire appeared on the screen. Two hours later, the guests were leaving and the dishwasher was being turned on. 

Natasha stopped Ariel halfway down the hall and crowded her against the wall. Ariel deepened the kiss Natasha initiated, and the assassin's hand slid into Ariel's slightly shaggy hair. She fisted her hands, feeling more than hearing Ariel suck in a breath. "I really like this style." She tilted Ariel's head up and sucked a bruise on her shoulder.

Ariel shivered and moaned. "I think I'm getting into it, too."

Natasha chuckled and continued into the bedroom. Ariel was right on her heels, already tugging at clothes.

~*~

Clint woke up on Natasha's couch. There was still a container of take out on his chest, but the television was off. He must have passed out and Natasha went to bed. Standard post-mission events. He stretched and moved the container to the table. There was a blanket on him, and of course the funny bitch would leave the food on him. His subconscious wouldn't allow him to create a mess in her place.

After a quick shower, he could smell coffee. He followed his nose and couldn't help his smile when he did. Natasha was standing in a corner of the kitchen, wearing a sweater she obviously stole from Ariel. It was huge on her, and would still be baggy on the more muscular Ariel, but she comfortable and warm. 

"What are you smiling at?" she asked as he got his own cup of coffee.

"You." He glanced at the Angel Grove High sweater. "You have a habit of stealing sweaters."

She shrugged. "If they weren't comfortable, I wouldn't steal them."

"You could get your own comfortable sweaters?"

She grinned. "That's no fun."

He settled next to her, arms and legs touching. "I'm happy for you, ya know."

"Same."

~*~

Maria sat next to Ariel and chugged her water bottle. In the middle of the roof, Natasha and Clint's slap fight was turning into a very stupid wrestling match. But they were laughing and inventing insults, so they were left alone. 

"You know, normal people would be worried they were still fucking each other."

Ariel nodded agreeably. "But if we can't trust them, who the fuck can we trust?"

"True." Maria shook her head at the flailing on the mats. "They're going to give me another team."

Ariel looked at her. "Awesome?"

"It could be. Handling multiple teams is a sign of competence."

"Which you have in spades, diamonds and clubs."

Maria frowned. "Is that the kind of spade that phrase means?"

Ariel shrugged. "I doubt it's the gardening tool. Jesus, those two are dorks."

"Why are we with them?"

"Flexibility?"

Maria laughed. 

"Are you laughing at us?!" Clint demanded.

"D'uh!" Ariel called back. She elbowed Maria. "It wasn't that funny. Which team?"

She rattled off a new tactical team and their members. Ariel hadn't heard of any of them, but that wasn't unusual. "It might mean remote handling."

Ariel grinned. "I promise the shenanigans will remain at a minimum."

"Asshole."

"If they don't, I'll help with the paperwork."

"You already help with it."

"Fine, I'll spring for the Starbucks and subs."

"Deal. And you're going to the good place two blocks down, not the health hazard around the corner."

"Oh, hell yes. I was raised on strange food, but at least it was cooked thoroughly."

Clint shouted uncle and Natasha rolled off him. They lay in the sun, panting and grinning. He thumped her stomach with the back of his hand, and she replied in kind. But harder.

"They're talking shit about us," Clint said.

"They're talking shit about -you-."

"Maria would never."

Natasha started laughing. She didn't stop. Clint elbowed her. "Shut it, Nat."

She did and glared at him. "Don't call me Nat." It was one of the first things she'd said to him.

They looked up as Maria and Ariel approached, water bottles and towels in hand. "Wanna clean up while I start lunch?" Ariel asked, dropping their belongings on them.

Clint bolted up and ran for the door. Maria called after him, "If you use all the hot water, I'm going to geld you!"

"Goddamn," Ariel muttered, muffling her snicker.

Maria shrugged, helping wipe down and put the mats away. "It works. I purposely went into Chinatown to buy a knife."

Natasha found this infinitely amusing, and it pleased her greatly. "If only it was a viable threat against certain other water hogs."

Ariel glared. "Hey, I grew up near water. I like the feeling of being surrounded by water."

"And then you bitch and moan about water in your ear."

"Only because you're there to listen."

Natasha started muttering in Russian, quickly running through the other two women's vocabulary. Once the mats were put away, Natasha said, "Maria, leave. You don't want to see what I'm about to do."

She headed for the stairs. "You're probably right, either way."

Ariel rolled her eyes. "I feel so much better about you having my six."

Maria flipped her the bird and disappeared inside. 

Natasha pressed herself against Ariel and kissed her, hard. Ariel, predictably, melted against her and held her close. Natasha pulled away and said, "I expect orgasms. Many orgasms."

Ariel smirked. "Enough to make you pass out?"

Natasha kissed her again, waiting for the moan of Ariel's legs about to give out, and then headed for the door. She didn't need to see Ariel to know her pupils were blown and her face flushed. She was very familiar with the Asian's reaction to her by now.

It was still surprisingly pleasant.


	12. Fire

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I got caught up in a relationship and a new job and now things are going to hell, so I need my hope again. I didn't mean to abandon this, and I'll try for once a week updates even when things start looking up.
> 
> Chapter still as short as ever.

Ariel wakes when a weight falls on to the bed next to her. It's not a threat, since her senses are quiet, but it's a surprise. But she recognizes the presence quickly enough. "Natasha?"

And Natasha isn't quite sure why Ariel doesn't call her Nat or Tash or Tasha, like Clint and on occasion Phil. So she asks. "Why do you always say my full name?"

Ariel blinks, because she's not quite coherent enough for left field questions. Possible threats can be handled on gut instinct. Obtuse significant others require actual thought processes. "Because it's your name?"

"You never say Tasha or Nat."

"Clint calls you Tasha, I know you don't like Nat, and it was the culture I grew up in?"

"Culture?"

"Hawaiian names don't get shortened, because it changes the meaning of the word. Nicknames were usually pet names or entirely different names."

"Did you have a nick name?" 

"There were two other Ariel's in my grade, when I lived in Hawaii. I went by my middle name, Ke'ala."

"What does it mean?"

Ariel tucked her face against Natasha's arm. "It can mean two things, depending on who's being a jackass. The proper meaning is "The path." Which is amazingly accurate, considering my life. Or, it means "very fragrant"."

Natasha almost stifled her chuckle. Almost. Ariel nipped her arm, then froze. "Natasha, why do you smell like smoke?"

"Shit." Natasha rolled to her side and watched Ariel's face carefully. "Are you okay?"

"What? Yeah? Oh, uh, I think it needs to be an actual volcano. But, uh, kinda not helping that you smell like fire."

"My building burned down. I went back in, twice, before the fire department arrived."

Ariel immediately wrapped her in a hug. "Are you hurt?"

Natasha shook her head. "No, and since I was on the lower floors, I didn't inhale a lot of smoke."

"But everything's gone."

Natasha shivered for just a moment. "I'm....I'm not materialistic. I know better, even now. But..."

"It was the stuff you accumulated since you joined SHIELD. It still represented something."

Natasha was impressed, and let it show.

Ariel shrugged. "My first few months at Ops Academy, I had to get counseling for Angel Grove. I sure as fuck needed it, even if I couldn't tell them the truth."

"Do you think your counselor realized the truth?"

Ariel shook her head. "It's really hard for someone to equate a C-Average student to Power Ranger. I was just angry and afraid, according to my file."

Natasha smiled a little. The best agents knew what was in their personal files, and how to manipulate the contents. She traced Ariel's hairline, causing her eyes to droop in pleasure. "I'm angry and afraid." Her voice was soft, almost unwilling to admit the truth.

Ariel's voice was barely a whisper. "You're only afraid when you have something to lose."

"I know better than that. I've lost too much to think connecting with anything, anyone, is a good idea."

Ariel opened her eyes. "Me, too."

Natasha listened to the story of Zordon, millennia old mage, and mentor to the Power Rangers. He survived time and again, saved by his Rangers once, even. Then he was capture and drained of his powers. Then he was brought to Angel Grove to watch it and his Power Rangers fall. Then he asked the Red Ranger to kill him, to end the war with a blast of his energy in death.

Natasha listened as Ariel told her of the vow she made to never trust anyone to survive her life. "But every time we walk away from an op, I'm wondering simultaneously if maybe everyone will survive, and if I'm one step closer to the moment I have to make a choice."

Natasha pressed her forehead against Ariel's. "We're doomed."  
'  
After breakfast and a shower that took a bit longer than normal, they went shopping for clothes and essentials. It didn't take too long, since Natasha knew what she liked. Ariel was the one hard pressed to make a decision, at times.

Natasha barely looked up from the rack she was checking for her size. "Not the grey, it makes you look mousy."

"Says the chameleon."

"There's blending in, and then there's looking too shy for any kind of attention."

"I'm trying to steer away from purple."

Natasha's lips twitched up. She knew the rant about color tendencies by heart. "Dark blue."

Once they were done and back in the car, Ariel asked, "My place or Clint's?"

Natasha gave her a confused frown.

"You are always welcome at my place, but Clint's is your home away from home." The ease of Ariel's attitude made Natasha's mind falter for a moment. There was no suggestion that Ariel would prefer Natasha with her, or that she begrudged the depth of friendship with Clint. Ariel would accept, respect, and support Natasha's decision, plain and simple.

It was still a novelty.

"Your place."

Ariel smiled and nodded, neither triumphant nor burdened. 

Seriously, what had she done to deserve Ariel?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> In my experience, a lot of the Poly/Micronesian languages come in so many different dialects, the meaning of words depends on who you ask. The little marks before and on top of letters also make a difference. This is why I don't speak Hawaiian unless I'm reading people/street names. Even then, I get it wrong and someone ends up laughing. 
> 
> I have written a "Natasha meets the family" bit, but I'm kinda if-y about posting it? Cause it's based on my family and I don't think it really contributes? And I'm pretty sure I should get to the movies at some point in the near future?
> 
> Thank you to everyone who has encouraged me so far. You guys are awesome, and I really appreciate y'all.


	13. Perfect Timing

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The title for this chapter has nothing to do with the contents, and more do to with the fact I'm posting this particular part after breaking up with my boyfriend. I failed at the once a week thing and I know it. Work and assholes and planning a move across town. I actually need to write new material now, since I've caught up to what I've already written. Well, there is the meet-the-family bit, but I'm still kinda meh about that...

"What the hell was that?"

Ariel didn't look at Natasha, but kept her voice just as calm and quiet. "That was making sure everyone got out of here alive."

"Except for the fact you didn't have a clear escape route."

Ariel switched to Tagalog, since only Delta spoke it, and Clint was piloting them out while Coulson was unconscious. "I know exactly how much good someone can do from a grave. Don't think I'm so eager to die."

Natasha knew the tension between them was unnerving everyone else in the quinjet, which was the only reason she switched to Ariel's native tongue. "You had me fooled."

"I had everyone fooled, including the enemy, which was the point."

"And if someone decided to risk themselves to make sure you got out as well?"

Ariel glared now. "This is not my first op. Everything I do has back up plans, you know this."

Before Natasha could reply, Coulson cracked open an eye. "Cease and desist, both of you." Of course he said it in the same dialect.

Assassin and trooper quelled and went about cleaning up themselves and their weapons. Ariel made the first concession, motioning to the scratch above Natasha's eye. She considered it for a long moment, then nodded once. Ariel kept her touch gentle, then allowed Natasha to return the favor with the graze on her shoulder.

Still, Natasha went home with Clint. She'd been living with Ariel for two months, now. Neither of them ever spoke of Natasha finding a new place, and their friends didn't bother to bring it up. After two days of utter looniness, Ariel made the trek to Clint's on foot, using the time to clear her head. She felt stupid and exhausted by the time she got to the Bed-Stuy apartment. 

Clint answered the door, not at all surprised to see her. "She's on the roof."

She nodded and headed for the stairs. 

"Ariel. She doesn't like worrying about people."

Ariel nodded once in acceptance. "And I was stupid to think she wouldn't."

He had to give her that. This wasn't their first op together since they got together.

Ariel stood in front of the door to the roof, hand on the latch. She never expected to survive being a Power Ranger. Coming back from a mission could still feel like a surprise. And she was an adrenaline junkie. Hell, a year after her stunt with the wing suit, there were still rumors of her code name being Nightwing. Everyone could believe it from the agent that would get you home as long as you lived long enough for Tac Nine to reach you.

She took a deep breath and made sure the door creaked loud as she opened it. Natasha was standing amongst the vents and machines, staying warm in the cool autumn air. She looked at Ariel and her face was expressionless. Ariel went to stand next to her, but faced the other direction so they could glance at each other.

They were silent for a long time.

Ariel sighed. "My first and last serious relationship was with a teenager as fearless and scared as I was. After Angel Grove, I sometimes believe I can survive anything else thrown at me. And every time I do..."

"Just because I don't voice every time my chest freezes, doesn't mean I don't feel it."

"I'm sorry." She wiped at the tears as her throat closed up. Damnit, she walked so this wouldn't happen.

Natasha shifted to stand in front of her, hands on her face. "Hey. Talk to me."

"I hurt you. It didn't even occur to me that I would, that I could. I got used to keeping everyone just a hint away from the truth that I stopped seeing it myself and I'm sorry and I know that doesn't help or fix anything but it's all I got and I'm -sorry-."

Natasha was a little surprised by just how intensely Ariel felt about this incident. She knew they were going to fight about something at some point, there was no way they would be agreeable about everything, or willing to go along with the other. She wrapped her arms around her and Ariel was quick to return the gesture. 

Natasha supposed she shouldn't be surprised. Ariel always felt things genuinely, never really filtered them unless she absolutely had to. It was what drew Natasha to her, being the exact opposite. Oh, Natasha could display emotional reaction and often did, but not to the degree Ariel did. And then there was Ariel's biggest secret. It wouldn't be easy to break the habit of not speaking of her Ranger days around Natasha, or thinking it wouldn't affect her.

The tears stop. Natasha swallowed around the lump in her own throat and tilted Ariel's head up. "I know what it's like to always hide a part of yourself. I know it can be a nearly impossible habit to break. I'll tell you right now there are some things I'll never tell you." And Ariel didn't look the least bit hurt by that. It was probably true for her as well. "But you're here. And we'll try."

Ariel nodded. Natasha held her for a bit more, letting the Asian take comfort in being close to her. Ariel's innate need for physical contact still took Natasha a few minutes to get used to, at times. When she felt Ariel shiver even with the heat coming off the various ducts and vents, they went inside.

Outside Clint's door, she turned to face her again. "I'll come back in a couple days."

Ariel nodded. Natasha didn't call it 'home' and Ariel didn't expect her to. Even for Ariel, true 'home' was Angel Grove or wherever her family happened to be. 

"I'm calling you a cab." She peeled a small label for the hot food Ariel had gotten at a convenience store. "I can't believe you walked." She looked pointedly at the address.

Ariel blushed. "Wanted to think."

"Take the cab home, Ariel."

"I will." She reached for another hug, but not a kiss. 

Natasha breathed her in and relaxed as best she could. Ariel left and Natasha pulled out her phone as she re-entered the apartment. Once she hung up, Clint fell onto the couch next to her. "Better?"

Natasha nodded. "She gets cocky, having survived the Siege of Angel Grove. She forgets others don't have the frame of reference."

"Uh, everyone in the city survived?"

"Not everyone was picking fights with the monster patrols beneath the ship."

"That's not in her file."

Natasha rolled her eyes. "Hill and Coulson did all the recruiting from the city. They seemed to only have time to write that everyone they dealt with was part of the rebellion."

He frowned. "That doesn't sound like them."

"They're files say there were on desk duty at the time."

"Yeah, that would do it."  
'  
Natasha did go back to Ariel's two days later. Ariel might have spoiled her just a little bit, but Natasha allowed it and returned the favor that night. Still, Natasha could feel the relief and desperation Ariel held her with as she fell asleep.


	14. Ohana Means Family

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is a test of the meet the family bits I have written. Tell me what you think.

Ariel sat on the couch right next to Natasha and cuddled into the redhead's side. Green eyes didn't look away from the computer for a moment. "What do you want?"

"Cuddles."

"You're not this obvious unless you want something."

"At least I don't distract you with sex?"

"True." That was Natasha's tactic, and Ariel fell for it every time, completely willingly.

"My grandma and her sister are born on the same day, five years apart. It'll be their sixtieth and sixty fifth birthdays in four months. I want us both to go."

Natasha stopped typing. Ariel didn't stiffen or move away, just continued pouring heat into her side. Meeting the other Power Rangers and a few cousins was one thing. This was going to be a celebration of massive proportions if Ariel was going home for the first time since she joined SHIELD. This was meeting the family in all it's grand measures. "Ariel, I... I wouldn't know who to be."

It hurt to admit. It was damn near frightening. At SHIELD, she was ever competent and just a hint scary. Clint, Coulson, Fury, and Maria, a few others, they knew she had an actual personality, and it did show on occasion on missions and ops. With acquaintances she knew well enough, she was a cool and calm and subtle with her humor. When she was alone with Ariel, she really just reflected the care and humor the Asian showed her. Oh, she had her own opinions and personality, and she did care for Ariel a lot. It was just...she could shut that part of her away if need be. That wasn't supposed to be right or even possible.

A tanned arm wedged under Natasha's arms and around her stomach, between her shirt and laptop. "Be whoever you need or want to be. I understand the need to hide behind a facade."

Thing was, Natasha knew she was telling the truth. For five years, Ariel had to seem as if she wasn't a teenage superhero. She had to pretend to the parents she loved that she was fine and not fighting for the planet's survival. And she managed it, because they didn't know the truth. No one ever learned Ariel was a Power Ranger. And whoever Natasha was, Ariel would work with her and find a way to play it naturally. No one would know anything was a lie.

And if Natasha said no, Ariel would kiss her and book a flight for one.

"Give me a week to think about it?"

Ariel kissed her shoulder and squeezed for a moment. "Take a month if you need it." She settled closer and closed her eyes. They were in a sunbeam, so of course she would nap.

Natasha smiled a little. None of Ariel's power animals had been feline, but they should've been.

~*~

It was two days before their trip to Hawaii and Ariel brought home the best pizza NYC had to offer. When she put them on the counter, Natasha appeared holding out two boxes. One was for brown hair dye, the other meant to add blonde streaks. Ariel didn't question her. "Food and then we'll inhale chemicals?"

Natasha nodded. She was still kinda surprised Ariel was willing to let her lie to her family. But Ariel did understand more than anyone else really would. After all, five years of being a secret teenage superhero...

~

Natasha had been to Hawaii before, on both business and pleasure. It wasn't all that different from any other tropical island, but she had watched Ariel grow happier and hyper the closer they got to Oahu. She nearly bounced out of her seat when the seat belt light flicked off. Now they weren't quite rushing through the terminal to baggage claim.

Natasha hooked an arm with Ariel's. "If you run, security will get nervous."

"If I run, we'll get a good spot to pick up our bags."

"You say that as if your parents aren't waiting there already."

Ariel blew a raspberry. They went down an escalator and Natasha purposely slowed down and made Ariel drag her. She couldn't help the small smile as Ariel started to plead and whine and promise all kinds of things.

Then she saw her family and slipped free, booking the last twenty feet. Sometimes, Natasha forgot Ariel was a real ninja.

Ariel crashed into a dark tanned man with a very eighties hair style. He lifted her up and set her back down, letting her get grabbed by her mother, then her younger brother. Natasha approached, and Ariel's mother held out her arms.

"Do you hug strangers on first meetings?"

Natasha smiled a little, wondering what, exactly, they knew of her career. "I hug my girlfriend's parents on first meetings."

The older woman hugged like her daughter, warm and complete and without hesitation. Natasha decided she didn't mind. Ariel's father was next, keeping it brief and simple. The brother shook hands, saying it was a rule between the siblings.

"The last significant other I hugged of her's, I stole," he admitted.

Ariel shrugged. "You two did make an adorable couple."

The younger man glared. "I'm not adorable."

"Yeah, ya are."

"Shut up."

"Don't wanna, can't make me."

He lunged at her and she danced behind their parents to get out of the way. The two siblings caused a brief ruckus. Natasha stood next to Heather, who sighed. "I'd apologize, but you would know her immaturity by now."

Natasha shook her head. "I never mind it when she's happy."

Jake laughed. "Damn, that was the perfect thing to say."

Ariel skipped back over. "That's 'cause she -is- perfect, dad."

Natasha gave her a slight glare. Ariel just grinned cheekily, until her brother tackled her from behind.

"All right, knock it off," Heather said as they picked themselves off the floor. "Grab the bags, you two."

~

This wasn't Ariel's childhood bedroom. Two years after the war for Angel Grove ended, her parents moved back to Hawaii. But there were still items around the room to mark it as hers. There was a bookshelf full of things Ariel would read without a second thought. There was a blown up of picture in a frame, a photo taken from the top of a mountain overlooking a forested valley. There was a tin with various hair ties on the dresser, and a shark plushie on the other side. Natasha picked it up and raised an eyebrow.

"A circus came to town," Ariel explained with a roll of her eyes. "Of course that was the thing I won."

"One day, we'll drag Clint to Cooney Island. They hate him there."

Ariel cackled at the imagery that popped in her head. "I'm gonna find the biggest thing for him to win and leave it in Maria's office."

"If you said Fury's, I'd call you brave."

"Gimme a couple more years to make sure he's not wearing a bullet proof coat."

Ariel unpacked her luggage, but kept her pack ready to go. Natasha did the same, if only to avoid questions. "Wanna walk to the beach? Dinner's not for a couple hours, and chances are they'll take us out to eat."

Natasha smirked a little. "You have an accent."

Ariel groused. "It'll only get worse."

"I can't wait."

The beach was a five minute walk down a single lane street with no sidewalks. Natasha could smell it on the other side of the houses, and the noise was obvious. When they got to the beach access path, Ariel hooked one of Natasha's fingers with her own. The path was fenced on both sides and covered in sand. Ariel didn't kick off her flip flops until they got to the end, and stuck both their pairs into the small bag she brought for just that purpose.

Natasha took a deep breath. "You're right."

"Hm?"

"The Pacific does smell different."

Ariel frowned for a moment, then her face lit up. Natasha smiled at the pleasure Ariel felt knowing Natasha remembered that comment a couple years ago in a tree on the edge of the Mediterranean. Ariel leaned in for a kiss and Natasha gave it to her. They walked for a bit, picking up a few shells and Ariel telling her what she remembered about growing up with a beach so close. They stepped into the water and let it lap at their shins. Ariel took her out on the exposed coral reef to show her a tide pool with a baby eel.

"How did you even know that would be here?" Natasha asked as they watched the foot long eel snap at tiny fish.

"This tide pool is one of the bigger ones. It was going to have something in it."

They made their way back to the sand and continued on for a few minutes. When they turned around, the low slung sun had lit up the other side of the island. Light reflected off the glass in Waikiki and Honolulu like glitter. They got back to the access path and their hands were intwined.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So here's the deal. I write a lot of fic, and all of it is self-insertion like things, running along the lines of my Power Ranger character finding herself involved with the Avengers in one way or another. So while I'm not writing this fic all the time, I am writing all the time. 
> 
> Would you lovely people be interested in reading the various other adventures Ariel gets into? I like to think I'm older and stronger than my sixteen-year-old self was, and can deal with the flamers should they shit hate. Almost none of my stories are complete, because I feel like writing different things on different days. But there are about 2 dozen stories, so I could manage a chapter of something a day for a month or two. Or whole uploads once a week. 
> 
> Even if only one of you says "gimme," you will get.


	15. Ohana, pt 2

Natasha woke when she felt Ariel snuggled closer to her. She slide her hand along Ariel's arm and squeezed light. Then Ariel's stomach rumbled. Natasha smiled.

"S'not funny."

Natasha smelled the coffee as well. Her stomach responded. Ariel laughed a little. They dozed until they heard the front door open and close three times. The sound of the ocean was a hum in the background, and there were loud birds sounding as if they were traveling up the street on foot. A breeze passed through the coconut tree in the backyard. 

Natasha stretched and Ariel murmured, tightening her grip before releasing her. The family dog was on the rug in the hall right outside the door. He wagged his tail at the sight of them and followed them to the kitchen. Breakfast was waiting on covered plates in the oven. Eggs, toast, bacon, and papaya halves in the fridge. Ariel tossed small pieces of food every once in a while at the mutt sitting just outside the kitchen.

"Want the two bit tour of my home town?" Ariel asked once the dishes were clean. 

Natasha nodded. There was no real plan for anything until Saturday's party in three days.

"You okay with walking around, or do you want to drive?"

"We can walk, it's early enough."

Ariel showed her the elementary school she went to until she was ten. They hit the 7-11 she grew up on, and Ariel had to get the snacks she ate all those years ago. Natasha decided she liked Spam Musubi. "Though, you are never getting me to eat Spam in any other way."

"Sounds like a challenge, yeah?" Ariel asked the cashier, who was watching Natasha's reaction in amusement.

"Dunno, she gonna return da favor?"

Ariel pointed at him. "Good point."

They went to the house she grew up in, walked past a few of the places she used to hang out. There wasn't much to that bit of the tour. She led them to her grandparent's house. An old man was sitting outside, smoking a cigarette and reading the day's paper. He looked up when the metal gate creaked and rattled. 

"Oh! Look who came home!"

"Hi, Papa." She greeted the man with a hug. "This is my girlfriend, Natasha."

They shook hands before he told them to go inside. "Your Mama is getting ready for work, and your aunty is home."

She led Natasha inside after they left their foot ware outside the door. Ariel had gone back to wearing flip-flops like she never stopped, but Natasha was in tennis shoes. "Don't know how you plan on running in those," Natasha had said.

"If any threat comes here, I'm standing my ground and taking it out."

"With extreme prejudice?"

"So very extreme."

They found her grandmother in front of a large vanity covered in all kinds of cosmetics. Her hair was up in curlers, and she was so very happy to see them both. "So good to meet the one who makes Ariel happy."

Ariel noticed Natasha holding her hand more than usual. She thought it was just Natasha playing a slight part, which was fine for an assassin who never had to do this. But then she noticed the tells she rarely saw. Natasha was actually a little shy, and maybe a hint embarrassed at the attention. 

"I thought I heard one tasmanian devil." Ariel's aunt came in and gave Ariel a large hug. She had hair curlier than even Natasha's, and it was pulled back in a bun that had lost a few strands. Ariel introduced them and her aunt hip checked Ariel. "Eh, no fair only getting pretty people to date."

"It's cause I'm cute."

They stuck around long enough for her grandmother to head to work and her aunt to make a lunch of sandwiches. They spoke more with her Papa, and her aunt asked if they wanted to go drinking. "Friday night, just the chicks. Won't stay out too late, cause I gotta cook all day Saturday."

"Lemme know if you want to cheat and have me buy stuff."

"Oh, girl, I already put in a dozen orders."

"We'll pick 'em up, then. I got money."

"Eh, you no need-"

"Hazard pay, aunty, hazard pay."

"And what, you not spoiling your girlfriend? What da mainland did to you?"

Natasha smiled a little. "She got me the best New York City pizza before we came here. And maybe she got me the vodka I like best."

She gave Ariel a faux grudging look. "I guess. No tell no body I let you pay for it, yeah?"  
~  
The next day, they got up before the rest of the house, packed a lunch, bought breakfast on the way out, and hit the highway at dawn. The first stop was a short, easy hike to a lighthouse overlooking the channel between Oahu and Maui. There were even Humpback whales to see. They got to Hanauma Bay just as the parking lot was declared empty enough to allow more people. 

Ariel tread water and looked back toward the beach. "This is the furthest I've ever been out."

Natasha checked where they were. The open ocean was much closer than the sand. "Want to head in?"

"Yes. There is food to be had." They pulled their snorkels back on and started to swim towards the nearest wall of the ancient crater. Ariel made sure to get a picture of Natasha in a snorkel. Clint would owe her so much for that image.

Natasha didn't look when she felt cool, wrinkled fingers link with hers. She merely brushed her thumb over Ariel's fingers, almost feeling the burst of happiness from the other woman. It made her smile. 

They got back to the beach in due time, after seeing a few more sea turtles and marveling at the size of some of the parrot fish. They spent a ridiculous amount of money at the food court since it was a vacation. Ariel told Natasha about the time she was floating on body board and spent so long looking underwater, she hadn't realized how far she'd gone from shore.

"I doubt it was as far as we were, but I was six years old. Not being in direct contact with the parental units was a big deal."

"Did you swim back?

"Yeah. I remember it taking me forever. I didn't talk to anyone for the rest of the day, until Dad threatened to ground me. Then I yelled at them and they bought me ice cream."

Natasha shook her head in amusement. "But did they let you swim far after that?"

"Yeah. Dad just managed to keep up."

Ariel sunbathed while Natasha sat under an umbrella and read. The spy was getting enough sun as it was, and really didn't want to end up sun burnt. Ariel, however, was getting darker and darker. Natasha had seen what the sun did to her girlfriend on some missions, but this was a very new skin tone.

"If I get you a bikini, will you find us a less populated beach?"

Ariel smirked. "Sure."

Natasha, pleased, delved back into her book.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I started posting the other stuff. I can't figure out links but it's all under my author page. Tell me what you think!


	16. Chapter 16

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> After getting sucked into a new fandom, I may be back here for a bit....

The day of the party had Natasha and Ariel driving to three different dining establishments that catered. Two were right across the street from each other, and the third had no parking because everyone else decided to eat there for lunch. Natasha tapped Ariel after the fourth go around. "You head inside, I'll keep the car going."

Ariel leaned over to kiss her really quick before getting out of the car. Natasha slid into the driver's seat and idled until she had to move to let someone out of a stall. She thought about taking it, but decided Ariel wasn't going to be more than a few minutes and just idled some more.

She'd never admit, but she was nervous. This was Ariel's family. So far, she'd done well, but she had no idea if some of the others were more perceptive. Natasha was sure she could pull off any act she needed to, but she wasn't actually trying all that hard to be someone she really wasn't. But she didn't want to be memorable. If anyone decided to use her relationship with Ariel against her... 

The back door opened and two more trays of food were loaded up. Ariel fell into the passenger seat and huffed. "There are back room arms dealers that are more cooperative than old Korean women running a restaurant."

Natasha laughed as she headed to the house. "Only because you can't intimidate them."

She snorted. "Yeah, probably."

It was only because they had food that there was a place near the house saved for them with a garbage can. Otherwise, the entire street was packed with parked cars on both sides. Ariel looked at Natasha and held out her hand. "You ready?"

Natasha took the hand and squeezed. "No."

"Wanna play it a certain way?" And, really, Natasha didn't deserve who so easily accommodated her.

She shook her head. "I'm trying not to."

Ariel smiled. "I noticed."

After one more hand squeeze, they got out and loaded their arms with food. The moment they hit the gate, a chorus of younger cousins shouted Ariel's name. One of the younger men took the trays from Natasha and headed inside. An uncle took Ariel's food and followed. 

A cousin that looked like Ariel's much more feminine twin wrapped an arm around Ariel's waist and looked at Natasha. "And who's the pretty lady?"

"My girlfriend, Natasha. This is Kate, the only cousin I'm afraid of."

Natasha accepted the hug, knowing it was the first of many. "Tell me your secrets, my methods no longer work."

"I'm just loud." Everyone agreed with laughter. "And we used to fight like we were gonna kill each other as kids."

"I'm surprised you guys didn't," a bigger man said as he walked up. "Jay." He offered his hand. "These two were like pit bulls when they were small."

Kate grinned. "But cuter."

Natasha couldn't but grin as Ariel rapidly slipped into her more local accent. She wasn't expected to remember any of the names she heard, and before too long there was a small child on Ariel's shoulders. The kid had just walked up to Ariel and held his arms up, and Ariel barely acknowledged the tiny thing before hauling him up. He just sat there, holding her ears, looking around from his new vantage point. Natasha wasn't used to calm toddlers.

They eventually got to the older relatives. There was speculation in the eyes of the grandparents, and teasing in the aunts and uncles. 

"What's popolo?" Natasha asked in a whisper as they left their shoes by the front door before going in. "And why is it good I'm not?"

Ariel reached up to cover the ears of the kid still on her shoulders. "Means black. The older ones are racist."

Natasha blinked. "I've been in a few dozen cultures, this shouldn't be surprising."

Ariel barked out a laugh. "Considering how dark some of them are, right? Watch ya head." 

The boy hugged her face as they went through the door.

"Eh, junior, no more legs?" called a man at the sight of them. The toddler just laughed and clambered down Ariel's back.

The birthday girls were sitting in a love seat with a fan breezing over them. Ariel hugged them both and introduced Natasha with near perfect manners. They had both dressed up for the occasion, Ariel's grandmother more colorful than her sister. They welcomed Natasha with open arms and asked if Ariel was being a good girlfriend.

"For the most part." Natasha gave Ariel a sly smile. "She still leaves clothes outside the hamper if she misses."

The room roared with laughter. And since there were no walls between the living room, kitchen, and den, there was a lot of laughter. One of the uncles fanned his face. "Auntie, they're living in sin! Aysus!"

Laughter rang out again. Ariel reached over a couch to the grabbed at one of the little powdered donuts on a side table of deserts. She presented it to Natasha with a flourish. The assassin rolled her eyes, but let Ariel put it on her finger. "Quick, someone find Papa."

There was more laughter, and someone said Natasha was perfect for Ariel. They did some more introductions, Natasha nibbling on her donut ring. There were way too many people, but no one seemed the least bit uncomfortable by the slightly crowded conditions. They sat for a bit with the cousins Ariel seemed most familiar, as she was sitting with four other grown adults on a couch meant for three. They were squished together but had somehow managed to fit comfortably. Natasha didn't at all feel abandoned. Ariel hadn't seen these people in years. She could understand getting caught up. And the various cousins were all too willing to tell Natasha embarrassing stories of Ariel. She found herself genuinely enjoying it all.

It was an hour of talking and even more people arriving before everyone was gathered around a large table laden with food. Ariel's grandfather stood between the two birthday celebrants as he said a grace that include an asking of many more birthdays for the sisters. Happy Birthday was sung in a happy but moderate way, then another round of rambunctious singing. 

The kids formed a line that started at the paper plates and utensils. They went around, scooping rice before picking and choosing what they wanted of the various offerings. Ariel and Natasha waited to the side until there wasn't so much a line as a vaguely directional crowd. Natasha managed to snagged an armchair to sit in while Ariel went outside to the coolers for canned beverages. She then sat against Natasha's legs without thought or question. 

Conversation swirled over all things. There were some who weren't all that educated and just ran their mouths, and others who knew more than they let on at first. The television played in the background, until Ariel cackled and changed the channel.

To fucking Animal Precinct.

"Why do you want me to beat you up later?" Natasha asked as everyone turned to see why Ariel had done now.

"After all the embarrassing stories, I want them to see you mutter in Russian."

Natasha glared but settled in to watch. Five minutes into the show people were already demanding why Ariel was making them sad at a birthday party. But no one wanted the channel changed, because they needed to see how the story ended. 

It didn't take long before Natasha was pissed off and muttering threats in Russian. It took a bit longer for one of the younger cousins to notice.

"Oh my god what is that and can you teach me?" one of the more hyper girls asked, who had stuck to Ariel like glue the entire time. 

Natasha quirked an eyebrow. "Will you actually learn?"

Fierce determination entered the nineteen year old's eyes. "Challenge accepted."

Natasha smirked. "Вы идиот не повезло."

The teenager tried it out. Natasha corrected a few spots. Three minutes later, she had it down. "What's it mean?"

"You unlucky idiot."

Her grin was as maniacal as Ariel's could get when explosives were involved. Natasha taught her three phrases, all of which were learning with frightening accuracy. Natasha looked at Ariel and raised an eyebrow. "How is it she can speak Russian within half an hour, and yet your accent is still horrible after a year?"

Ariel glanced around the room at her snickering relatives and shrugged. "Ну, я экономил сюрприз для особого случая, но я не могу смотреть, как дурак, в настоящее время."

Natasha felt her mouth was open and quickly snapped it shut. "I honestly shouldn't be surprised you know how to keep secrets." 

"You really shouldn't be." Ariel was far too smug for Natasha's taste.

"Это слишком плохо, ваша комната имеет общую стену с вашими родителями. Я бы вознаградить свои навыки, но вы не знаете, как быть спокойным."

"I really didn't need to hear that," one of Ariel's aunts groaned from the sink a few feet away. "Find a language I don't know, ladies."

Ariel rolled her eyes. "Sumerian isn't a spoken language anymore."

"Than keep it G-rated, I have a heart condition." She flicked her wet fingers at Ariel before going back towards the other "adults."

Natasha sighed, only a little embarrassed. Ariel grinned and leaned up to kiss her quickly. 

"Who's ready for desert?!"

Ariel bolted for the table. Natasha shook her head and followed the crowd to sing around the lit up cake. She supposed the night had gone as well as it could've, despite having no idea how to handle a real family. As she murmured the Russian version of the song in Jade's ear for the teen to learn, she decided she wouldn't mind coming back.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Translations:
> 
> Well, I was saving the surprise for a special occasion, but I can't look like a fool now.
> 
> It's too bad your room shares a wall with your parents. I would reward your skills, but you don't know how to be quiet.


End file.
